There's another casualty in the ever-increasing list of shows and annual events getting the postponement treatment due to the coronavirus epidemic.

This time, it's Vault Festival who have made the difficult but necessary decision to postpone the next full, live version of the incredibly popular annual festival until 2022.

The decision seems to have arisen due to the significant financial and safety risks brought about by COVID-19 plus the lengthy time scale on which the festival planning operates - each festival takes ten months to create.

If you're unfamiliar with Vault Festival, it's a massive celebration of the most exciting and boldest independent and grassroots artists, from all backgrounds, across all live performance styles which last year boasted in excess of 600 shows during its schedule.

Founders Mat Burtcher and Andy George do not want to ask artists to begin expending time, money, and energy in creating new shows when the risks remain so unpredictable in an industry already facing mounting pressures.

As a non-funded, independent organisation, 100% of VAULT Festival's income comes from ticket sales, food and drink, and fundraising.

As such, the Festival doesn't have the margins to be able to ride out a less-than-great festival, to implement social distancing effectively, and to protect their artists from exposure to increased financial and safety risks.

But there's a hint of a silver lining to the decision to postpone as Mat and Andy will use the extra time use to restructure and reorganise the festival to better serve everyone involved.

They are using this chance to re-engage with the Festival's purpose and interrogate its place in the industry.

They will also be working to generate live and digital opportunities for their artists, staff, and audiences throughout 2021.

And, in addition, they'll be working on big plans for the 10th Anniversary of VAULT Festival which falls in 2022.

Mat and Andy said ...

"The prospect of not doing a festival in 2021 is daunting but our mission is now more important than ever.

Our commitment is to continue working to provide an accessible platform that best serves our artists, audiences, and staff throughout 2021.

We want to make our community, industry, and world more accessible, more inclusive, and more sustainable.

We're grateful to the wonderful artists, audiences, our team, and the collaborators who've made the Festival what it is so far - thank you for your continuing support.

We'll be back, better, soon."

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