Organisers of Grillstock have just announced they are cancelling the festival this year despite only announcing its headline acts two months ago.

Bosses said they were forced to make the shock decision because they had a ‘very short time frame to deliver the operational elements of the event’.

The weekend-long celebration of meat and music, hosted at Bristol harbourside, is normally one of the biggest festivals on Bristol’s calendar. It attracts thousands of revellers from across the country.

The Grillstock chain, which has restaurants in Bristol and Leicester, went into administration last year but was saved after being bought out by a group of former company directors.

The festival was due to take place on June 30 and July 1, but with just one month to go its organisers have completely cancelled it.

Anyone who has bought a ticket will be offered free entrance to the event next year.

In a statement, its organisers said: “We have made the difficult decision to postpone our 2018 festival until 2019, which will take place on the same weekend at Bristol Harbourside.

“We know this is really disappointing and that tons of you have planned a weekend in Bristol to join us.

“We want to create the best Grillstock festival possible for our fans, but this year have found ourselves with a very short time frame to deliver the operational elements of the event. Alongside our production team we have concluded we are better to postpone than to compromise the quality of the event so we can focus on making 2019 bigger, better and meatier.

“We are inviting ticket holders to keep their tickets for 2019 and we’ll reward those who do with free Grillstock Festival swag and a 20 per cent discount at our smokehouses this year as a huge thank you for your ongoing support for the festival.

“We’re receiving huge support from our suppliers, the bands and our partners, which is awesome and means we can hit the ground running for next year with tickets on sale again by November.”

In April, the festival announced Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape would take the headline slot on Saturday night, while festival favourites the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were set to steal Sunday’s top spot.

The band said: “We are really sorry to hear that Grillstock will not be happening this year. We go way back with Grillstock and hope that maybe next year we can fill your ears with the mucho grande style while you are filling your stomachs with some of the best festival food we’ve ever tasted!”

Tickets bought for 2018 will be honoured for Grillstock’s re-arranged dates next year and as a thank you for people who support it organisers will give each ticket holder:

Additional information and instructions for those with tickets can be found at www.grillstock.co.uk/Festival 


Originally published by BristolLive on 28/05/2018 as: Grillstock has been cancelled this year because organisers say ‘they ran out of time’. Original source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/grillstock-been-cancelled-year-because-1616937

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.