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Business News Live Business
Bloom Festival company goes under
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 12 April 2010
Organisers of the Bloom Festival, one of a number of boutique festivals to bite the dust last year, have confirmed they have put their company, Extended Play Ltd, into liquidation.
The company, which also staged other smaller events under the Bloom banner, many championing new bands and DJs, struggling last year as the economic downturn damaged both ticket sales and sponsorship revenues. A last minute site move for the main festival, forced by licensing issues with their original site, pushed the company over the brink.
Despite initial hopes that Bloom would be able to return this year, it became clear last Autumn that the financial problems caused by the cancelled festival were insurmountable; and with debts unlikely to be paid the organisation quietly exited the Association Of Independent Festivals.
Confirming that they were putting their company into liquidation, Bloom organisers Olivia Chapman and Franc Gooding said in a statement: “Over the years we have had some real highs and some challenging lows, and it’s a shame and with huge sadness that we are going out on the latter. However we hope that the majority of festival-goers see the value in small festivals and those that go out on a limb and risk absolutely everything to create a happy, fun and enjoyable environment for a few days each year”.
They continued: “Those that attended earlier incarnations of Bloom will know how close we came to making our festival something special, and those that know us personally will understand how hard we have worked, how much we have invested both in time and money, and how much we have ultimately lost. We would like to thank all of the artists, sponsors, vendors, festival attendees, friends, families, media, industry colleagues, local businesses, community organisations and all the many volunteers and partners who have worked with us over the past five years”.
Last year was not a good year for the more quirky boutique festivals. Brighton’s Beachdown was cancelled last minute and seems unlikely to return, while the Big Chill festival went under, with the brand only living on thanks to a late in the day deal with Festival Republic.
