Slam Dunk festival is officially cancelled due to coronavirus. The alternative festival in Leeds and Hertfordshire usually takes place in May but got postponed to September in a bid to still go ahead this year. But last night’s statement from festival organiser Ben Ray announced that Slam Dunk is officially cancelled for 2020. The festival will now be moved to the 29th May 2021 in Leeds for North and the 30th May in Hatfield for the South.
“It is with a heavy heart I have to inform you that Slam Dunk Festival 2020 is postponed to 2021. We hung on to hope for as long as we could but with so many factors against us, we have had to accept the fact that it can’t go ahead. We had worked so hard to move it from May to September and with that we thought we had saved it for you, but sadly the outlook is not any better”, the statement reads.
If you can’t make it to the new date, you will get your ticket refunded, however tickets “will of course remain valid for Slam Dunk 2021, so please, if you can, hold on to them”, the festival organiser urges.
It is with a very heavy heart I have to inform you that Slam Dunk Festival 2020 is postponed to 2021. Please read the image or visit https://t.co/BtZWKcsuwa for the full statement from our Festival Director. pic.twitter.com/pVAhYJRGDD
— Slam Dunk Festival (@SlamDunkMusic) May 14, 2020
Sum 41 and Don Broco were supposed to headline this year’s festival, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet if they will remain for next year. Other artists in the line up included Billy Talent, While She Sleeps and Mayday Parade. As Slam Dunk is known as a festival with bands from genres like pop-punk and metal, the festival is also known for welcoming bands that aren’t that familiar to the general public but are well-known within the scene, such as Young Guns or Trash Boat who were both set to perform this year.
A report earlier this week has warned that independent music festivals in the UK are at the risk of collapsing without government support. As Slam Dunk is also an independent festival “run by a small and committed team”, music fans are hoping that their beloved festival will survive the coronavirus crisis.
