"Rising costs" cancel Big Gig for another year

Thursday 24 January 2019

"Rising costs" have seen what was previously one of Jersey's biggest summer music fixtures cancelled for another year.

Annual charity festival The Big Gig was last year forced to cancel following difficulties with securing a headliner.

Organisers had last year planned to bring over Craig David to close the Howard Davis Park-based July music festival, but the last-minute withdrawal of the headliner for Legends in the Park – the festival’s initial retro part of the weekend – meant that it was not financially viable to go ahead for just one day only.

We’re hugely disappointed to announce that we have had to make the very difficult decision to cancel this year’s Sure Big Gig.
Anyone who has already purchased a ticket is entitled to a full refund.
Please visit our website for more information: https://t.co/ckZpDzHFy4…/ pic.twitter.com/xXRZZbS1kc

— SURE BIG GIG (@BigGigJersey) May 2, 2018

Pictured: How they announced the news last year.

There had been hope that the festival would be back for 2019, but today that dream has been dealt another blow, with organisers announcing today that they had been priced out of putting on a show.

"It is with huge regret and sadness that the event organisers of the Sure Big Gig and  Sure Legends in the Park announce that the event will not be taking place this year.

"This is due to the rising costs of obtaining headliner and support acts with the limited capacity and the overall cost of putting on such an event. It has become no longer feasible," they said in a note on their website.

It continued: "Over the past eight years we have raised tens of thousands of pounds for local children’s charities, so it’s particularly disappointing as the chosen charity will not get an opportunity to raise money at the concerts and be the recipient of any additional profits from the two day event.

"We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone involved over the years."

The statement expressed a glimmer of hope, however, with organisers stating: "We hope that this is not a goodbye as we will continue to look at other opportunities for future events."

Despite having named issues with "limited capacity" as a problem for the festival, organisers further stated in an FAQ section of their website that they would not be willing to do so. "This would change the ethos and atmosphere of the Sure Big Gig. The Howard Davis Park has been perfect for our family friendly events," they said.

In response to queries over whether using local acts instead would bring costs down and allow them to continue, they said: "Sadly the costs of the infrastructure and not wanting to compromise on the setting of the event means that this would make this non viable."