London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

UK music festivals at risk of cancellation due to ‘pingdemic’ staff shortages

UK music festivals at risk of cancellation due to ‘pingdemic’ staff shortages

Covid contact tracing app is forcing many workers into self isolation, as sector asks for government help
This summer’s music festival season could face last-minute cancellations due to staffing shortages caused by workers being told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app, according to industry leaders, who are calling for government support.

Paul Reed, chief executive of the Association of Independent Festivals, said this summer season, which is already greatly reduced after a number of high-profile cancellations including Glastonbury, could face further disruption.

Some festivals are struggling to put events on because of a lack of staff, including bar workers, security and logistics companies, according to Reed. “We’ve already heard anecdotally accounts of marquee companies isolating at home because their entire team’s being pinged so they can’t actually get to the site,” he said.

“I’ve heard of site managers getting pinged, and obviously that’s work that you can’t switch to doing remotely.”

Several festivals have been pulled already this summer, including the one-day Glastonbury event that was scheduled for September and the Boom Village event, which cited staffing issues as one of the reasons for cancellation.

Reed said the 16 August cutoff, when those who are notified by the app but have been fully vaccinated no longer need to self isolate, comes too late for this season’s festivals. “That will be too late for some members, but in any event, festivals are largely staffed by younger workers who will not be fully vaccinated by 16 August,” he added.

The reopening of hospitality venues on 19 July, including nightclubs and theatres, has contributed to a shortage of available workers for festivals, and Reed said some – for example, in rural locations – simply won’t be able to find replacement workers if staff are told to self isolate.

This weekend test festivals have taken place across the country that require no social distancing or mask wearing, including the 40,000-capacity Tramlines festival in Sheffield, Latitude, and Standon Calling. Reed said the true impact of staff being asked to self-isolate will be seen in the next few weeks as other major events begin.

Timm Cleasby, head of operations at Tramlines festival, said the event did face problems due to self-isolation but had contingency plans, including starting the site build two days early to allow for unexpected delays. But he called for the government to back an insurance scheme for festivals so that those that are hit by Covid-19-related problems have something to fall back on.

He said: “I’d say to the government, we’ve done everything asked of us for the last two summers. Please give us some certainty and get this thing done so we can properly get back to normal next year.”

Reed also highlighted a continued lack of a government-backed insurance scheme as one of the reasons that festival organisers who have gone ahead in 2021 are – in some cases – hugely financially exposed.

The culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, has said the government would only look at an insurance scheme once it was “possible for [events] to happen”, when lockdown restrictions have lifted. Reed and Cleasby are among a growing number of voices asking for that process to expedited in order that next year’s festivals can take place.

A spokesperson for the DCMS said: “We understand the challenges live events have in securing indemnity cover and are exploring what further support may be required.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×