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Houghton Festival/YouTube
Thousands of festival-goers were expected in Norfolk this weekend
A second major music festival due to attract thousands of people has been cancelled because of bad weather.
Houghton Festival was due to run from Thursday to Sunday at Houghton Hall near King’s Lynn in Norfolk.
Organisers said it had been an “almost impossible decision” to take, and they would inform festival-goers about refunds later on Thursday.
Cornwall’s Boardmasters festival was cancelled on Wednesday over fears of weekend thunderstorms and heavy rain.
The 2019 festival would have been the third edition of the electronic music festival held in the grounds of the stately home.
Acts due to perform at the event, which had a 24-hour licence for music round the clock, included Ricardo Villalobos, Four Tet, Shanti Celeste and Derrick Carter.
In a statement on the festival website, organisers said conditions had “dramatically worsened” and would deteriorate further into the weekend, with gusts of more than 50mph (80km/h), leading to the event’s cancellation on safety grounds.
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Houghton Festival/YouTube
The festival was due to be held in the grounds of Houghton Hall
“We are utterly devastated. All the hard work, love and creativity that has gone into planning and producing this year’s event made this an almost impossible decision to make,” they said.
“This was set to be a wonderful weekend and the boldest step we have ever taken as a festival. However, nothing is more important than the safety of our customers, staff and performers, which would be compromised if we were to go ahead.”
They said information on refunds would be made available later, and advised ticket-holders not to travel to the site.