The organisers of the Latitude festival in Suffolk (from 16–18 July) are still saying they plan to go ahead. I have a ticket (which cost £230) and was really looking forward to it, but I find this worrying in the current circumstances.
We all have a duty to support the NHS by maintaining social distancing. Why does Latitude feel it is able to go ahead safely when almost all other events (football matches, Wimbledon, Edinburgh fringe, Glastonbury) have cancelled?
I would prefer not to go and to get a refund for my ticket, but its website makes clear that it will not offer refunds while the event is still going ahead. That is simply wrong. To withhold money that people, in the current climate, need, and to put profit before people? Either they are going to go ahead, endanger staff and performers and force punters to make the choice of endangering their community or losing their money. Or they are not going ahead and are withholding money that ticketholders are entitled to. Please can you put pressure on them to cancel, do the right thing, and refund ticket buyers’ money? This has damaged my trust in the organisers.
RK, London
You contacted us in early April, at which time the Latitude website said the event was still going ahead. We got in touch with organisers Festival Republic/Live Nation at that stage, but despite numerous requests for information and clarification, nobody got back to us.
However, on Monday Latitude announced that it was cancelled, saying: “We’ve been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and it’s become clear that it’s just not possible for this year’s festival to go ahead.”
You are among thousands of fans with tickets who are now being offered a refund or the chance to roll over their ticket to next year.
Its agent, Ticketmaster, has been emailing all ticketholders, saying they will all be automatically refunded unless they contact it to specifically ask to transfer their ticket over to the new 2021 date. Ticketmaster says it expects all refunds to be processed by 25 May.
Meanwhile, Reading and Leeds Festivals (in August) and Electric Picnic (in September) are still going ahead. Again, refunds will not be offered to ticketholders until the events are officially cancelled.
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