Beyond The Woods Festival is the latest event to cancel due to uncertainty around COVID restrictions

Beyond The Woods Festival has been forced to cancel its 2021 edition, due to the ongoing uncertainty and lack of government support around COVID restrictions.

Held in the surroundings of Stourton Woods, near Horncastle in Lincolnshire, Beyond The Woods was set to take place between 6th and 7th August, with a line-up including The Staves, Alfie Templeman (pictured), Olivia Dean, Vistas, Baby Queen, Master Peace and more.

"Dear Friends," a statement from the event reads. "It is with very heavy hearts that we have to inform you that, following the postponement of the 21st June easing of lockdown restrictions, Beyond The Woods Festival will no longer be taking place this year.

"To say that we are gutted is a huge understatement. Over the last seven years our organising committee have poured their hearts and souls into Beyond The Woods. People have given up hundreds of hours of their time to get the event to where it is, and for them not to be able to enjoy seeing their hard work come to fruition is an enormous disappointment.

"After the disappointment of having to postpone the festival in previous years, our team were desperate to put on a show for you in August. However, after recent events it has become apparent that this will no longer be possible.

"The uncertainty around lockdown being lifted, the lack of availability of insurance cover for Covid-related festival cancellations, and a lack of clear guidance on which measures might be required of mass gatherings such as ours means we’ve been left with no option other than to call off this year’s event."

The statement goes on to explain how "without any certainty, either in the form of insurance, or a cast-iron guarantee that the festival would be able to take place restriction-free, we’re not going to be able to proceed as we’d so dearly wanted to."

The festival explains how, over the coming weeks, they'd have to pay tens of thousands of pounds of upfront costs to ensure the event could take place, but with no guarantee the festival would be able to take place in August without restrictions, they're unable to take such a risk.

"We understand that many people will be as disappointed as we are," they conclude, "but we sincerely hope you can understand why we do not feel it’s possible to go ahead with this year’s event. The situation has now changed, and the risk for us as an organisation has just become too great. We are working hard to secure a new date for 2022 and all tickets purchased for this or previous years will remain valid. You are of course welcome to a refund, and if your tickets were purchased from an official Beyond The Woods supplier, we will be in touch in the next couple of weeks to advise you of the refund process."