Sonisphere UK bites the dust!

The UK Sonisphere festival has announced today that it has been cancelled. eFestivals is led to believe that this is due to poor ticket sales, along with other financial constraints.

The festival was set to return for its fourth year at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire next year from Friday 6th to Sunday 8th July 2012 with three days of heavy rock and entertainment with headliners Kiss, Queen with Adam Lambert, and Faith No More.

eFestivals first broke the news early yesterday morning with a tweet, but did not want to publish the news while naming the event, as we had no wish to undermine what might have been a still viable event.

The event has issued a statement saying, "It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012.

"Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar. Unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere's audience would rightly expect.

"We want to express our deepest regrets to the artists and to thank all the staff, suppliers and contractors who worked so hard with us to try and pull off what has proven to be an impossible task and we know how much they share in our disappointment. We also want to send a huge thanks to the Sonisphere fans who stuck by us and we are so sorry that we can’t fulfil what we set out to do.

" Ticket holders will automatically receive a full refund direct from their ticket agents.

"Team Sonisphere."

eFestivals believes there is more about the reason for this event being cancelled than what has been revealed in this story.

A statement from Queen's Roger Taylor and Brian May reveals the band are hoping to find an alternative venue to perform at, "We are disappointed to hear of the cancellation of the Sonisphere Festivals as we were very much looking forward to performing with Adam Lambert and particularly as the venue was Knebworth, our last stand with Freddie. We apologise for the disappointment to all those who were looking forward to seeing us. We are working to see if we can redress the situation at some other venue."

The event started as a touring music festival in 2009 taking place across Europe between June and August. It's not yet known whether the other European events are also cancelled.

With High Voltage, Big Chill, Ireland's Oxegen, Ben & Jerry's, and a few established smaller festivals having also been cancelled this year, it would seem that things are looking less rosy for the industry's future and there could be fewer festivals on the calendar next year.

This is going to be a really tough year of survial for many festivals, so if you're thinking of going to a festival this year, try and buy that ticket early it may make all the difference to their future.

Tickets were priced at £145 for a weekend ticket (£180 with 4-day camping, £170 with 3-day camping). For details of refunds contact the ticket sellers.

The line-up was also set include Tim Minchin, Evanescence, Incubus, Within Temptation, Marilyn Manson, Wolfmother, The Darkness, Cypress Hill, Refused, Mastodon, Gojira, Flogging Molly, Fields Of The Nephilim, Lacuna Coil, The Blackout, Andrew W.K., Ghost, I Killed The Prom Queen, Switchfoot, and Katatonia.

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