Bluedot 2024 not happening

[czuk]

Just had the email

Quote

Underpinning bluedot’s mission is a sincere love and respect for the earth and environment we are lucky to be part of. However, at bluedot this July, that earth itself took a lot of strain. Experiencing the highest level of rainfall on the festival weekend since records began (records courtesy of Jodrell Bank’s own weather station!) we have patiently waited to see what the effects of this have been on the land itself. We have now sadly reached the judgement that the ground on which the bluedot universe is built desperately needs some time to recover; a period of rest during which the soil will recover and regenerate. We are, as Carl Sagan put it, in very bad trouble if we don’t understand the planet we’re trying to save.

 

We have therefore taken the decision for bluedot to have a fallow year in 2024.
We had grand ambitions for our 2024 edition, but are nonetheless excited for the future, buoyed by the Artemis mission to take humanity back to the moon for the first time in 56 years. We cannot wait to join in the excitement with you.
We would like to share a heartfelt thank you to our home of Jodrell Bank, the local community and Cheshire East Council, the artists, speakers and all festival staff for their support since day one, and especially in the most challenging moments of bluedot 2023.

Ground recovery or financial problems?  They must have lost money this year with the weather.

[zahidf]

Probably a mix of factors. Saying that, they could be being honest about the difficulties of environmental factors

[Neil]

11 minutes ago, czuk said:

Just had the email

Ground recovery or financial problems?  They must have lost money this year with the weather.

Its probably jodrell bank not happy being wrecked .

[jackarmy]

Think they only sold about 11k tickets this year, and the most day tickets were sold for the Grace Jones day - which they had to refund everyone for.

[NotAnInsider]

They were pushing out Facebook Ads to get people to sign up for access to early bird tickets as late as last week. The land definitely took a battering - visited Jodrell a few weeks ago and they've laid a load of new turf and have signs up apologising for the state of things after 'a brilliant (but muddy) bluedot', so there is certainly an element of truth that the ground needs to recover.

They've got good financial backing and the festival is partly justified as outreach by the university so I'm perhaps more confident it will return than I would be if most other festivals took a break like this.

[sheffinghell]

Bluedot and Tramlines on the same weekend, both badly affected by the weather this year. Tramlines repairs to the park have been substantial and will have taken priority as it's a more public space. Tramlines sells out every year for a much larger crowd... makes sense to drop Bluedot whilst they recoup some of this year's losses. 

Also wondering if they might be looking for a better site for Bluedot. I know the telescope is iconic, but the ground there has always been problematic in rainy weather. Needed assistance to get out of the parking area when I saw Elbow there back in 2012 (pre Bluedot, but essentially the same festival)

[sheffinghell]

6 minutes ago, sheffinghell said:

Bluedot and Tramlines on the same weekend, both badly affected by the weather this year. Tramlines repairs to the park have been substantial and will have taken priority as it's a more public space. Tramlines sells out every year for a much larger crowd... makes sense to drop Bluedot whilst they recoup some of this year's losses. 

Also wondering if they might be looking for a better site for Bluedot. I know the telescope is iconic, but the ground there has always been problematic in rainy weather. Needed assistance to get out of the parking area when I saw Elbow there back in 2012 (pre Bluedot, but essentially the same festival)

I'd also add that it seems a pragmatic commercial decision, especially when you consider - Bluedot capacity 25k (but doesn't always sell out), Tramlines capacity 40k (always sells out). Bluedot requires camping and parking facilities, Tramlines does not...

Superstruct also have several other festivals making them good money, including Y Not and Kendal Calling, which are larger than Bluedot and also regularly sell out, and are in a similar mid-north UK catchment area

[jannybruck]

The entire festival needs a rethink, to be honest, and I say that as a fan of it. The lineup feels much less focused and well curated recently, and I think the soft sales really reflected that this year. I don't think the telescope is well used enough – or the site perfect enough – for them to be glued to it, and I think it could quite easily work in a different place with another USP (but I'm not sure how much of the funding comes from Jodrell Bank itself).

Either way, maybe a year off to take stock might be a good idea for them.

[tomlc]

Yeah it’s a shame but not surprising. Enjoyed the first one but the lineup hasn’t done enough for me in recent years, despite only being down the road. 
 

They could potentially bring it back during the next Glasto fallow year. 

[cerysj]

Does anyone know who books the music at Bluedot - looking to interview them

[sheffinghell]

1 hour ago, cerysj said:

Does anyone know who books the music at Bluedot - looking to interview them

The organisers are Superstruct - huge international company. You could try their press office

[SummerSolstice]

Wasn't it Amigas last year? Previously it was the same booker as Kendal Calling.

[Paul ™]

15 hours ago, cerysj said:

Does anyone know who books the music at Bluedot - looking to interview them

http://fromthefields.co.uk

[onemoresolo]

Has anyone heard rumours about whether 2025 will actually happen? It definitely leaves a gap in the calendar.

[Neil]

On 12/13/2023 at 12:15 PM, cerysj said:

Does anyone know who books the music at Bluedot - looking to interview them

i think its done by andy smith from 'from the fields'.

[Neil]

On 12/13/2023 at 1:42 PM, sheffinghell said:

The organisers are Superstruct - huge international company. You could try their press office

don't think they do the bookings think they just sit in the middle of the bookings for their events and look to double up and shave pounds off the bookings costs.

[Neil]

On 12/13/2023 at 8:11 PM, SummerSolstice said:

Wasn't it Amigas last year? Previously it was the same booker as Kendal Calling.

that'll be andy smith.

[incident]

1 hour ago, onemoresolo said:

Has anyone heard rumours about whether 2025 will actually happen? It definitely leaves a gap in the calendar.

 

This is a 3rd or 4th hand rumour but I trust it - Bluedot won't be coming back in the previous form. The site owners still want a festival, but if something does happen there it'll likely be a different crew and name.

Edited June 1 by incident

[onemoresolo]

14 hours ago, incident said:

 

This is a 3rd or 4th hand rumour but I trust it - Bluedot won't be coming back in the previous form. The site owners still want a festival, but if something does happen there it'll likely be a different crew and name.

Interesting. I personally really enjoyed the music/science mix although the crowd/vibe was a bit of a mixed bag. A lot of stressed families and the day ticket w*nkers (depended on the headliner how bad this was, New Order was awful) amidst the usual festival faces.

 

Holding it at Jodrell Bank means there has to be some sort of science crossover…