2020 Manchester Punk Festival Cancelled

The 2020 Manchester Punk Festival has been cancelled, one of the organisers Andy Davies (TNSrecords / Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man) posted on Facebook “I guess this was inevitable, but still absolutely devastating. At the end of the day, people’s health and safety has to be our priority. Much love to everyone involved, everyone who helped out and all the bands who were playing. Look after each other at this difficult time.” The Manchester Punk Festival is not for profit and is completely independent, you can help Manchester Punk Festival survive and return next year by buying the merch that was ready for next month here and donating, and picking up the ‘name your price’ Manchester Punk Festival comps, via Bandcamp here

You can read the full statement from the Manchester Punk Festival below

“Every day, every hour, we check the news and hope that there’s something positive to take from it. Still nothing. If anything, things are getting worse and preventative measures are getting more extreme. The US travel ban has effectively taken away a number of our 9 headliners – and a few other bands also on the line-up. Quarantine measures and other travel restrictions have also impacted at least a quarter of the bands – and people – who could attend MPF. We’ve been weighing up pushing ahead with the festival, but the consideration of putting on a drastically different line-up than what everyone expects doesn’t sit well. 

There’s also every chance that although we could technically go ahead with MPF as things stand, the day before the festival we could be hit with news/restrictions/changes in law that stop us in our tracks. There is also a moral obligation to not provide an environment (for those that still wanted to attend) where the virus can be spread unknowingly and transported back to wherever you legends came from and passed onto other people – particularly those deemed “at risk”. As well as putting ourselves and our volunteers in a risky position. There are so many touchpoints throughout MPF from wristbands to merch that create opportunities for transmission.

MPF is fantastic, but it’s not worth risking lives for. All those issues and more considered, MPF2020 will not be happening as planned this April. We have already invested thousands of pounds into this festival and a lot of it is money we’ll not be able to recoup. As we make clear each year, we are 100% independent with no outside funding or sponsorship. Every penny spent on the festival comes from ticket sales and merch. We may need your help to get out of this mess. We work on the tiniest margins to ensure our ticket prices stay low, affordable and accessible for everyone. This means that when things go pear-shaped, we’re on the ropes. We’re insured as a festival, but not against communicable diseases – most festivals aren’t, not just the punks!

We’re DIY. Always have been, always will be. Everyone who bought a ticket for MPF2020 will be entitled to a refund however if you bought directly through us, please be patient. We will post about how to claim your refunds and what the next steps are shortly. Thanks for your understanding, patience and support for Manchester Punk Festival. Please take care of yourselves and each other. Seek out best practice ways of helping delay and stop the spread such as social distancing. The government is – and always seems to be – lacking in being any help, so help each other here.”