Standon Calling enters liquidation after 19 years
Standon Calling has called its quits after almost 20 years, as the company behind the festival has gone into liquidation.
In a statement shared by the BBC, organisers of the festival revealed the sad news in an online post, writing, “We regret to announce that after 17 Standon Callings the 2023 Standon Calling will now prove to have been the last.”
The festival had previously hosted acts such as Madness, Anne-Marie, and Loyle Carner in 2022, and other notable headliners like Charli XCX, Primal Scream, Basement Jaxx, and Example over the years.
The final edition, held in 2023, was headlined by Self Esteem, Years and Years, Bloc Party and The Human League, as well as hosting sets from Confidence Man and The Big Moon.
The mournful statement continued, “Due to significant financial losses sustained in 2022 and 2023, we were unable to run the festival in 2024 and 2025. For the last 18 months we have engaged with a number of potential investors to continue the festival, including one party for the last 13 months.”
The economic issues of the company were made public in February 2024, when performers and food vendors complained that they were still owed a total of tens of thousands of pounds from the event that took place in 2023.
At the time, the festival made the decision to push the 2024 edition to July 2025: “We promise it’ll be worth the wait!” they wrote. However, this rescheduled weekend never went ahead either.
Last month, they announced plans to return in 2026 for the 20th anniversary edition of the festival. However, they ran into some difficulty with aspects of the planning. They had been provisionally approved by local councillors on the condition that there would be no on-site camping for staff or performers. Additionally, there was to be no late-night rave programming. The capacity also had to remain below 20,000 people.
In the new statement, they added sadly, “With huge regret, additional investment has not been secured and we are left with no other option than to put the company into the control of the liquidators. We are hugely grateful for all the support that so many people have given to the festival over the years, which helped build Standon Calling into what it became since its inception in 2006”.
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