Festivals

The Museum of London will host two free weekend festivals ahead of its relocation project.

A family festival featuring arts, crafts and theatre will take place on the weekend of 26 and 27 November, followed by a festival of music on the weekend  of 3 and 4 December.

The museum will be open for over 24 hours for the first time in its history on the first week of December, before closing its doors at its London Wall site - its home for the last 45 years - for the final time.

The museum will reopen in 2026 as the London Museum in West Smithfield.

“Over 21 million people have visited our galleries to find out more about this great city, its history, and its people. We’re looking forward to one final hurrah before we continue the museum’s next chapter in our new location at West Smithfield,” Museum of London Director Sharon Ament said.

The price of tickets for next year's Glastonbury Festival have increased by 26% with organisers blaming "challenging times" for the rise.

Festival-goers for the 2023 event will be charged £335 plus a £5 booking fee for standard tickets when they go on sale on 6 November, with a £50 deposit.

That represents a 26.4% increase on the £265 cost before booking fee for tickets that went on sale in 2019 for what should have been the 2020 festival that was ultimately postponed.

The BBC reports that Glastonbury Festival organiser Emily Eavis said "incredibly challenging times" are behind the rise and they had tried "very hard" to keep costs down.

"We're facing enormous rises in the costs of running this vast show, whilst still recovering from the huge financial impact of two years without a festival because of Covid," she said.

"The £50 deposit on ticket sales day in November will be the same as ever, with the balance not due until April.

"And, as always, there will be opportunities for many thousands of people to come as volunteers or as part of the crew.

"In these incredibly challenging times, we want to continue to bring you the best show in the world and provide our charities with funds which are more vital than ever."

The Edinburgh International Film Festival has been shut down with immediate effect after the charity that runs it, the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), announced it had ceased trading and called in administrators.

In a statement CMI said the decision was taken as a result of the "perfect storm" of sharply rising costs, in particular energy costs, alongside reduced trade due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. 

CMI said that even with the recently announced energy price cap for businesses, its energy costs were likely to rise by approximately £200,000 over the next 12 months, and with the price cap only in place for six months, planning beyond March 2023 was "highly uncertain".

"The combination, and scale, of these challenges is unprecedented and means that there was no option but to take immediate action," the statement said.

As a result, Filmhouse Cinema and Café Bar in Edinburgh, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Belmont Filmhouse have all ceased trading immediately with administrators appointed for all entities.

Organisers of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival have launched a major feedback exercise as part of attempts to address issues with the annual event.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is seeking input from artists, audiences, venues, producers, workers, community groups, arts industry delegates, media and those with access needs in order to make improvements for 2023.

Over the next two weeks the festival will be inviting views on a range of topics, from the recent Fringe experience to accommodation costs, barriers to participation, and the work of the Fringe Society. 

Responses to the collection of surveys will provide data the festival says will help it bring together the right people and partnerships to work towards solutions. 

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “This year’s festival was the first step on the road to recovery and we know the biggest challenge is the next three years. 

"It’s important that we gather evidence and case studies from our Fringe participants so that we can ensure the Society is armed with the facts and best equipped to make the case for where improvements can be made in advance of Fringe 2023. 

"We encourage everyone to take time to complete the survey specific to them and to provide as much information as they can.”

DCMS Chair Julian Knight has written to the National Audit Office (NAO) calling for an investigation into nationwide festival Unboxed: Creativity in the UK.

In his letter to the spending watchdog, Knight called the £120m festival an "excessive waste of money during a cost of living crisis" and a "fiasco in the making".

Speaking to the BBC, he added that "questions need to be answered about how this was allowed to happen".

"I'm calling for an NAO investigation to ensure we see what has happened, why it is that this money has been spent in this way and then we also learn the lessons for the future," Knight said.

"We saw the warning signs… and the fact is this has been potentially a monumental waste of money and has had little impact in the country as a whole."

Unboxed’s Chief Creative Officer Martin Green told the BBC Unboxed is “bold and groundbreaking” and value for money.

He added the festival had done “exactly what the government asked us to do”.

According to a recent investigation, the festival has been attracting only a fraction of its target audience numbers.

Official audience figures are expected to be released next month.

Arts Council Wales is calling on audiences and people involved with arts and culture to help it shape the future of the arts in the country.

The organisation says it wants to start conversations on issues such as the climate emergency, a bilingual arts sector, equality and diversity, and transformation of the arts in the face of increasing global challenges.

It will be holding a free online festival over three days later this month to gather views. 

The festival, named Imagining our Future: Conversations on the Arts in Wales, will run from September 20 to 22.

Online registration is now open and participants can select the events they want to attend.