Bestival is cancelled by new owners just weeks after rapper was jailed for killing Holby City star’s daughter by supplying her party drugs at music festival two years ago
- Bestival festival has been cancelled after 15 years by it’s new owners
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- Broughton gave her 2-CP at the festival where she died, before her 25th birthday
Louella Fletcher-Michie died just hours before her birthday
An popular music festival which was brought out of administration has been axed after 15 years by it’s new owners.
Bestival, which has been held at Lulworth Castle in Dorset since 2016 will not take place for the foreseeable future despite more than 50,000 people flocking to the 2018 event.
The dance festival, founded by Radio One DJ Rob da Bank saw headliners including London Grammar, Faithless, The Prodigy and Fatboy Slim.
The news comes after Bestival Ltd – the company behind the previous Bestival events – went into administration in September, alongside sister festival Camp Bestival Ltd.
Billionaire James Benamor made a £1.1m offer to take over both festivals days after his business the Richmond Group filed court papers seeking to put the companies behind the events into administration.
The Richmond Group had loaned the organisers £1.6m in February 2018, and had taken a charge on some of their assets.
Administrators then sold the event’s assets, along with Bestival itself, to the Richmond Group.
Both festivals were then bought by promoters SJM and Live Nation Gaiety.
SJM and Live Nation Gaiety then announced that Camp Bestival would return this year and installed failed former owner Rob da Bank, to run the 2019 event.
However, they remained tight-lipped about the future of Bestival until this month.
A source close to the new owners, said: ‘It’s going to be extremely sad and disappointing news for many people.
‘But for this year at least and possibly for the foreseeable future, the new owners have taken the decision to not hold Bestival.
‘The festival has been in significant financial difficulty and still owes significant amounts to acts and other concessions.’
A spokesperson for Dorset Police, who are still owed £140,000 by Bestival for policing the 2018 event, added: ‘
We have been informed by the new event owners that there are no plans to run a Bestival 2019 event.
‘We are working with colleagues at Purbeck District Council as well as other members of the Safety Advisory Group and any decisions around the policing and security of Camp Bestival 2019 have yet to be made.’
Bestival was started in 2004 by the DJ Rob Gorham – aka Rob da Bank – and his wife Josie and was held on the Isle of Wight until it moved to Lulworth Castle in 2016.
2018 performers included Mark Ronson, Grace Jones and London Grammar. Camp Bestival, described as the event’s ‘little sister’, is a family-friendly offshoot which has been based at Lulworth since its beginnings in 2008.
Bestival Ltd and Camp Bestival Ltd still owe £3.7m to unsecured creditors including Bestival headliners London Grammar £175,000, Rudimental £24,500 and Plan B £105,000.