No Direction Home Festival postponed until 2014!

[Velvet Overground]

Here's an e-mail we received from the NDH organisers.

Shit, shit news.

Dear ticket buyer.

No Direction Home Festival 2012 was a great success and lots of fun.

It also lost a good deal of money. Not more than we could cope with, but more than expected.

We had planned for NDH to get somewhere near to breaking even in the second year, and that is now perhaps a tougher target than it was.

We have decided to take a year out from No Direction Home in 2013 to give us time to get our planning right, to create a fantastic line-up and to build on the feel that everyone liked this year.

The change will be a disappointment to everyone who has already bought tickets or who was planning to come along and we regret this, but overall we are happy with the decision.

Welbeck Estate was pleased to host No Direction Home’s first year, and is supportive of its return in 2014.

So, we will refund all the ticket buyers and we'll do so with as little hassle as possible. We hope you may decide to come to End of the Road instead in 2013 if you are not coming already.

Refunds will happen automatically starting on the 12th December. Do not apply directly to Paypal or Google.

If you haven’t received your refund by the 21st Dec, please email tickets@nodirectionhomefestival.com

Its a great testament to the success of the 2012 festival that so many of you chose to buy a ticket for 2013 without hint of a lineup.

We hope that you are as excited for NDH 2014 as we are and we will let you know dates as soon as they are confirmed.

Best Wishes

The Directors

No Direction Home Festival

December 2012

[Christophales]

disappointing, but can't say I'm too surprised given the poor attendance this year

[Nigey_boy]

Dear NDH Directors

Dissapointed to hear that the festival is not taking place - we LOVED it last year

Do you think it would be fair to offer discounted End Of The Road tickets instead of a refund....just a thought!!!

Nige

[Velvet Overground]

I am sceptical that it'll ever return. I really don't know how postponing it will improve the festival's fiscal siutation. Surely they'll have the same problem next year, given that they'll have to refund the tickets from this year and carry their losses forward? Or am I just being too simplistic?

Anyway, I hope it returns. It was a lovely festival, which I actually enjoyed more than EOTR.

[staffop]

Ditto, thought it was great last year, small but perfectly formed. It was also one of my "must-do's" for 2013 ((((((((((((((

[Fareham Grecian]

I am sceptical that it'll ever return. I really don't know how postponing it will improve the festival's fiscal siutation. Surely they'll have the same problem next year, given that they'll have to refund the tickets from this year and carry their losses forward? Or am I just being too simplistic?

Anyway, I hope it returns. It was a lovely festival, which I actually enjoyed more than EOTR.

[zahidf]

Agree 100% - in fact it might be worse as they won't have the guarantee of all the Early Bird tickets they sold off the back of this year's festival. I wouldn't mind betting that it dies now - hope I'm wrong though.

[Fareham Grecian]

Depends on how EOTR does next year i'm guessing, and how the festival market is generally. I don't think EOTR even sold out last year.

[staffop]

I wonder if tomorrow's mega announcement might mean the budget's not there to sustain next year's NDH - be a shame if that were the case...

Edited December 14, 2012 by staffop

[baroquepop]

I'm disappointed, particularly as I think that NDH could be as successful as EOTR. The location is great! But I appreciate that in business you have to know when to move forward and when to withdraw, and I respect their decision.

Fingers crossed that it will be back. I'd love to see a more Americana lineup.

[PastCaring]

I don't suppose that its clashing with Bearded Theory will have done it any favours - two small festivals on country estates in a similar part of the midlands and on the same weekend - not good!

[staffop]

Just wanted the organisers to know there are still lots of eager beavers keen for NDH to come back again in 2014 - pretty please?!

[dirtycash]

Simon says that they 'took a break on No Direction Home' (this year) but doesn't give any clues to it returning in 2014

http://thelineofbestfit.com/features/lists/simon-taffes-end-of-the-road-picks-135630/2

Didn't early bird tickets for NDH go on sale directly after last years EOTR or was that that the year before. Perhaps they just haven't made a call on it yet?

Neutral Milk Hotel are over in Europe for Primavera in late May/June, if they book them it will sell out for sure.

[SweepingTheNation]

NDH early birds went on sale alongside (and in a joint offer with) EOTR. NDH's continued existence was notable by its absence this year - nothing in the programme, no signs on site (which was how they launched it), nothing on the EOTR or NDH sites/Twitter, and now no mention alongside early birds. It's possible they're not sure themselves yet whether it's feasible so are hedging their bets, of course, but I wouldn't put money on it - it's difficult for a festival to have a cancellation year off and come back, even for one allied to a successful event.

[Velvet Overground]

Sadly, and I really do mean sadly, I think it's a goner. It was a wonderful little festival. I hope I'm proved wrong.

[GTG]

Don't give up hope! A former member of this forum had heard something far more optimistic/positive over the weekend.

[staffop]

Can you share? (Is there an emoticon for 'hands clasped together devoutly'?)

[staffop]

Bump!

[Velvet Overground]

It's not happening, is it? We'd know by now for sure.

It would have been nice to have been told by the organisers though.

[RedRockRick]

It's not happening, is it? We'd know by now for sure.

It would have been nice to have been told by the organisers though.

[GeorgelogVIII]

Kieran O'Sullivan on EoTR facebook page said a few months ago that it was not happening he said "get over it". Kieran is one of the people who set up the festival, who works with Simon, he is also one half of the DJ's "Double Decker" who played last years EoTR

According to company reports for End of The Road North Ltd (No Direction Home) The company has been dissolved and the directors resigned last year. So unless they are moving to Scotland its not going to happen.

Edited January 10, 2014 by GeorgelogVIII

[staffop]

Interesting, hadn't seen that. Instructions to "get over it" seem rather harsh though, especially as there's been no official announcement…..

[zahidf]

Not happening. From facebook.

'Many of you have been asking about the return of No Direction Home Festival.

We have decided not to continue with this event for the foreseeable future and focus our efforts on End of the Road.

It was a difficult decision given the popularity of NDH, but one that has the interests of EOTR at heart.'

[staffop]

Thanks for the update Zahidf. It was increasingly unlikely to go ahead given the timescales and lack of publicity but a heads up on progress would have been nice. It may be too utopian, but part of the (original) pleasure of EOTR (and NDH) was the sense of community it engendered - I sense we're all just punters now...

[SweepingTheNation]

The problem with NDH for floating punters, I think, was because it was the first one and all people had to go on was "from the team behind EOTR" there was quite a bit being left to supposition and trust, which when you're advertising a ninety-odd pound festival one of the headliners of which are The Low Anthem might not have proved enough (and because of the Bella Union EOTR tie-up that same year the bills ended up with some repetition) Shame, though, a straight-folkier, more British equivalent of EOTR could have worked really well over time.