No more Sunrise

South West's big music fest is cancelled

30 May 08 - Time has been called on the Sunrise Festival due to a sudden and heavy burst of rain.

About 20 thousand people were expected to go to the South West’s first big music festival, which is based at Bearly Inn farm near Yeovil, but organisers have had to cancel.

Police

Avon and Somerset police made this decision about the Festival on Thursday night (29 May) after the bad weather happened between 6.30pm and 7pm.

This year's headline acts included The Orb, The Beat, System 7 and Seize The Day.

Hundreds of homes in the area have been left with flood damage and further showers have been predicted.

Police said that around 5,000 fans had already arrived at the Sunrise Festival by the time it was called off.

Fire service

Andy Newland, a spokesman for the Devon and Somerset Fire Service said: “It was a typical flash flood gone almost as soon as quickly as it came. It has quietened down considerably overnight.

“It’s very different from what happened in Gloucestershire because that built up for many days. This was literally that a tremendous amount of water came down with very little warning and the surface water drainage couldn’t handle it.”

Difficult time

Event Organiser Sophie Ducker told 6 Music that it has been a difficult time. She said: “It’s been a tricky time for us this year and last year there were a lot of other festivals who had a similar situation.

“So it is very difficult under such unpredictable weather conditions.”

On a happier note, she said: “Our backer is very keen on re-arranging the event later in the year at some point and we’ll make announcements about it very soon."




Kelly Stooke