Organizers will continue with Sunday’s schedule, which will include a performance by Grace Jones
Organizers said the Bluedot festival had no room left for those who bought tickets for the day due to heavy rainfall.
Weekend campers, who were at Jodrell Bank for the three-day science and music festival starting Friday, were not affected but day tickets were cancelled.
Organizers added that Sunday’s schedule, which includes a performance by singer Grace Jones, will continue “but only for those already here”.
In a statement posted online, the festival said there had been “unprecedented rainfall over the past seven days causing water levels to reach saturation point during the night”.
image source, Ruby Jessop
The ground becomes muddy after a week of rain
The entrance has become impassable due to standing water.
Organizers said that although they tried to pump out the water and spread more racetrack carpets and wood chips, they could not accommodate more spectators’ vehicles.
The statement said the decision had been made with a “heavy heart”, adding: “We are saddened to be unable to share this with those who will be arriving today.”
at the scene
The ‘unprecedented rainfall’ at Jodrell Bank made it slippery in the mud and difficult to park
The venue degraded gradually throughout the festival but the team behind the event worked hard to try to keep it running in the increasingly difficult conditions.
Woodchip, fabric and metal walkways have been laid out with varying degrees of success, but Saturday night’s downpour changed everything.
The ground, already soggy after about a week of rain, had turned into a slippery swamp in many places, and moving from tent to tent meant defying the mud deep enough to submerge a well in many places.
To be sure, it also caused a quandary in the parking lots, as many of those who bought tickets for the day and beyond gave up and the decision to go home had to be pulled out of the fields.
That means Saturday’s title episode of Pavement, the UK’s only gig by Californian indie rockers this year, drew a much smaller audience than expected or more than deserved.
Most accepted that the festival’s first safety decision was the right one, but some day pass holders pointed out that it could have been done earlier and spared them an unnecessary journey this morning.
image source, Paul Whiteley
The show continues despite the rain
image source, Stuart’s Request
The organizer of the day ticket sy “of course” will be refunded
The annual Bluedot Festival has been held at Jodrell Bank Observatory in rural Cheshire since 2016.
