Wickham Festival News

Wickham Festival – COVID-19 UPDATE Monday 1st June, 2020

With the sun shining, lockdown easing, open-air markets & other venues opening, we thought you might like an update on this year’s Wickham Festival.

First & foremost, the health & safety of all our artists, audience, staff & suppliers along with our local Wickham community must come first. Our Festival can only go-ahead if it’s felt safe for it do so in 10 weeks time.

At present, no mass gatherings are allowed anywhere in the UK due to Government restrictions but the Government’s ‘roadmap’ suggests many venues will be allowed to re-open from early July.

Our view remains that if Government restrictions are sufficiently relaxed in time, our Wickham Festival will go-ahead in August as planned.

If Government restrictions are not relaxed in time, our Festival will be postponed to 5th-8th August 2021.

We have had constructive discussions with the local authority about staging a ‘Covid-Secure’ Festival and are submitting our detailed proposals for their consideration this week.

All the scientific advice is that people are at far less risk of catching the virus outdoors than indoors. Our proposals for a ‘Covid-Secure’ Festival reflect this.

We know some artists especially those from abroad won’t be able to attend due to travel restrictions but we still have a great line-up in place for what may be the only festival you can attend this summer.

If it’s felt safe for people to leave their houses and enjoy the great outdoors again by August, we’re sure many people will be keen to do so. That said, we recognise there may be other people unwilling or unable to do so.

If our Wickham Festival does go-ahead in August we will allow anyone unable to attend the option of rolling-over your tickets to next year at no extra cost.

If our Festival does not go-ahead in August, all ticket-holders will be able to roll-over tickets to 2021. Refunds will also be available to those unable to attend our 2021 dates (5th-8th August 2021).

Wickham is run on a voluntary ‘not-for-profit’ basis with a shorter ‘build’ period than many bigger festivals. The local licensing authority are content for us to adopt a ‘wait & see’ policy as the situation develops. Crucially, our Medical Team are able and willing to provide our usual 24/7 medical cover without taking resources away from the NHS or other emergency services.

For all these reasons we can afford to wait a bit longer to see how the situation develops. We will keep alive the hope of staging this year’s Festival for as long as we can but will have to
take a final decision by 1st July at the very latest.

We hope this information is helpful to you. We will update it when anything changes. If you have any queries do please email us via eastfest@talk21.com and we’ll try to help.

Finally, may we thank you for your continued support at a very difficult & worrying time for all of us. While Government lockdown restrictions remain in place, please stick to them. Stay safe. We look forward to seeing you again at Wickham be it this August or in a year’s time.

Archives by year

  • 2025 (1)
  • 2024 (17)
  • 2023 (13)
  • 2022 (13)
  • 2021 (20)
  • 2020 (12)
  • 2019 (25)
  • 2018 (25)
  • 2017 (27)
  • 2016 (23)
  • 2015 (19)
  • 2014 (2)
  • Facebook Posts

    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
    Were delighted to confirm The Magic Teapot will be back at Wickham this summer.  Super-popular venue with great entertainment and they brew a really good cuppa as well! 😀Image attachmentImage attachment

    We're delighted to confirm The Magic Teapot will be back at Wickham this summer. Super-popular venue with great entertainment and they brew a really good cuppa as well! 😀 ... See MoreSee Less

    19 hours ago

    6 CommentsComment on Facebook

    Great news

    My favourite place

    They are so good and with kids to sing and pay with them too

    View more comments

    By popular request, Track Dogs will be returning to Wickham on Sunday 3rd August.  Same day as Kate Rusby; Oysterband; The Peatbog Faeries; Ian Prowse & Amsterdam; Reg Meuross Fire & Dust; & more.  Day & Weekend tickets now onsale www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/tickets

    By popular request, Track Dogs will be returning to Wickham on Sunday 3rd August. Same day as Kate Rusby; Oysterband; The Peatbog Faeries; Ian Prowse & Amsterdam; Reg Meuross 'Fire & Dust'; & more. Day & Weekend tickets now onsale www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/tickets ... See MoreSee Less

    3 days ago

    32 CommentsComment on Facebook

    Please please don't let them clash with peatbog faeries or oysterband 🙏

    Oh Wickham, now you are really spoiling us! So glad I got my earlybird ticket - I can sit back and woop at every announcement :-)

    View more comments

    Our Twitter Feed

    Huzzah for @festivalwickham and Saturday 2nd August and another mighty HUZZAH for it is a particular favourite of ours, do thoroughly deserving of thrice Huzzah! http://Www.wickhamfestival.co.uk for tickets!! See you there. Is there time for one more Huzzah?

    We've updated the 'Line-Up' pages of our website to show who's playing (so far!) on which day. You can also view artist biogs & videos by clicking on artist photos.

    The wonderful singer-songwriter @NewtonFaulkner will make his #WickhamFestival debut on Friday, 1st Aug. Same day as @Fishy_Friends, @TaliskMusic, @FlookQuartet and many others.

    Another band confirmed! Legendary Geordie folk-rockers @lindisfarneband will headline the opening night of #WickhamFestival on Thursday 31 July.

    More artists confirmed! @IanProwse and Amsterdam will be at this year's #WickhamFestival on Sunday 3rd August. Ian toured with Elvis Costello last year and is touring with Levellers this Spring.

    We've kept Earlybird prices as low as possible for as long as possible but prices have to rise soon. You can still save £80 on every weekend ticket if you book before midnight on Sun Dec 5. A four-day ticket is currently just £180, that's just £45 a day http://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/tickets