Plans to bring thousands back to Fort Regent’s East Ditch this summer have been scrapped, after organisers of Wonky Town announced they will not proceed with this year’s festival amid mounting financial pressures.

In a post on social media, the Wonky Factory team confirmed it had taken the “difficult decision” not to proceed with the event this year, despite months of behind-the-scenes work and an early bird ticket campaign.

The two-day festival, which drew huge crowds to the usually barren East Ditch last August, had been expected to return to the same venue. Instead, organisers admitted the numbers simply do not add up.

“Quite simply, we have been unable to make the finances stack up in a way that would allow us to deliver a credible, high-quality line-up at an affordable ticket price,” the statement read.

The company said that staging a “world-class event in Jersey is not cheap” and, despite efforts to cut costs and “welcome support” from the government, “the overall financial risk remains too high to move forward responsibly.”

Although the early bird ticket campaign generated additional sales, organisers conceded that, when weighed against “wider financial pressures”, it failed to provide enough confidence to continue this year.

“We’ve made strong progress and laid important foundations, but ultimately we’ve run out of time to make it work properly in 2026,” the statement added.

Rather than scale back ambitions, the team insisted they would not “compromise on quality or take risks that could damage the festival long-term”, opting instead to “pause and focus on building something stronger and more sustainable for next year”.

The announcement will come as a bitter disappointment to the thousands who packed into the East Ditch last summer, transforming the stark concrete setting into a vibrant festival arena.

Organisers said they “genuinely appreciate the support, feedback and belief” shown by islanders and pledged: “Thank you for backing Wonky Town and we’ll be back.”

Refunds will be issued automatically to the card used for purchase, with no need for ticket holders to contact organisers.