organisers announced Sunderland's Split Festival is axed

Split Festival 2014

Saturday 9th to Sunday 10th August 2014
Mowbrey Park, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, SR1 1PP, England MAP
weekend £55, or £33 per day

Organisers have announced that Split Festival that they have decided to call it a day, and the event will not take place again.

Headlined last year by Dizzee Rascal, Maximo Park and The Cribs the event started in 2009 and took place annually in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear and supported and promoted local and regional acts, alongside some big international names.

The Futureheads' guitarist Ross Millard curated the Split Festival line-up each year. As well as music the festival expanded to offer comedy. film, and more.

Split Festival announced it would be taking a year out in 2013, before returning to a new venue - Mowbray Park last August. Now, organisers have revealed that financial constraints mean Split Festival will not take place again.

Split's Rob Deverson explained the decision, "We are so proud of what we have achieved, but ultimately the economics of live music events has left us unable to see how the event can continue. Each one of the team has invested personal cash into the festival to keep the business alive over the years, but sadly, we simply can’t keep it going."

Split's Martyn McFadden added, "Since 2009 we've brought the likes of Dizzee Rascal, The Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene, PiL, The Cribs, The Futureheads and Maximo Park to Sunderland and we've had financial support from Sunderland Council and The Art's Council. The Split team have worked tirelessly and without financial reward to put on a quality event, so it's a real shame we haven't been able to sustain it. However, to show how hard it is to make this kind of event viable, neither Evolution Festival (Newcastle) nor Stockton Weekender (Teesside) will take place this year and that's a real shame for music lovers in the North East."

Split's Ross Millard added, "In the past 10 years the music industry has changed and with the rise of the internet record sales have fallen, to cover this loss of revenue artist's agents are asking for significantly higher fees for live performances and many festivals are finding this unsustainable. We have spent as much as £140k per year on booking the bands, but we haven't been able to recoup those artist's fees in ticket sales and other revenue."

Split's Barry Hyde concluded, "It is a sad day announcing the end of Split, but at the same time I have an immense sense of pride, not only in the Split team that worked hard to make it happen since 2009, but also the punters. We have not had a single arrest, or incident and the crowds treated the bands that played with love, respect and heartfelt hospitality. The event last year in Mowbray Park was, in my opinion, an historical event for Sunderland and I feel happy that it was our farewell."

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