SarkFest cancelled due to storm damage at site
SarkFest 2024 has been cancelled due to storm damage, which cannot be repaired in time.
Co-organiser Simon Couldridge made the cancellation announcement on social media, citing damage on site which cannot be resolved by July.
Tickets were first released on 1 November last year – the day of Storm Ciaran – and some ticketholders had already booked travel and accommodation.
Sark Shipping managing director Yan Milner said the company would normally have expected to carry up to 900 people to Sark on the Friday, and back on the Sunday.
And overall the event attracts about 1,500 people.
‘It will make a difference,’ Mr Milner said, when asked about the cancellation.
‘But then obviously in July it is also the peak period for day trippers, so if we have some good weather, we will replace festival goers with day-trippers.’
He added that so far only 33 people have booked ferry tickets for that weekend, and some of those would be likely to still go over for the weekend, as they already had accommodation booked.
If people decided not to travel, Mr Milner suggested they get in touch with Sark Shipping, which can be flexible with tickets.
The weekend event was due to run from 5-7 July and last year saw more than 30 bands from Guernsey, Jersey, the UK, Ireland and Australia across three stages.
For the first time last year a Battle of the Bands was introduced to allow younger musicians a chance to perform in front of an audience, and performers and festival-goers had hoped it would continue.
SarkFest was launched by Mr Couldridge and Mark Guillou to rebuild the legacy of the Sark Folk Festival, which stopped after the pandemic.
The pair won the Arts Contribution award at the 2022 Pride of Guernsey Awards for creating a vibrant music scene in the Bailiwick.
SarkFest strives to showcase both local music talent and acts from further afield.
