Coronavirus: Long Division festival postponement the 'smartest and safest' option

Wakefield's Long Division festival has been postponed by five months due to fears about coronavirus.
Wakefield's Long Division festival has been postponed by five months due to fears about coronavirus.Wakefield's Long Division festival has been postponed by five months due to fears about coronavirus.
Wakefield's Long Division festival has been postponed by five months due to fears about coronavirus.

The festival, which was due to celebrate its 10th year in June, invites grassroots and Indie musicians to perform a string of performances across the city centre.

Acts playing at this year's festival had included Northumberland folk band The Unthanks, pop indie duo Peggy Sue and folk singer Beans on Toast.

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Long Division had been planned for a weekend in June, but organisers have now confirmed that it will instead be held in November.

They offered apologies to those affected by the decision, and have confirmed that refunds will be offered to anyone who is unable to make the new dates.

A spokesperson for the festival said: "We began the week cautiously optimistic that Long Division could happen in June but things are moving fast and it has become apparent that the smartest and safest thing for us to do is to move the festival to later in the year.

"We have been working quickly with our partners, venues and artists and can now confirm that Long Division will take place between the 12th - 15th November, with the multi-venue festival taking place on Saturday 14th November.

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"We’d like to thank all of our artists and their teams who have been working fast to confirm the new date and we’re pleased to say that the majority of our line up and all of our headliners have already confirmed, though there will inevitably be one or two changes.

"We will be in touch over the next few weeks to confirm the line up and venues but for now please bear with us as we work on this.

"It was absolutely not an easy call to make but the health and safety of our guests, staff, artists, partners and our community has to be our priority. All tickets remain valid but if you cannot make the new date we will of course offer refunds.

"We're exploring ways to support our local creative community during this difficult time with plans for an emergency artists fund and a free all day event in late summer to kickstart live music in the city once it is safe to do so.

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"Please see the website for updates on bands that have confirmed, we will be updating this post everyday as acts confirm. Thank you for all your kind messages and continued support of Long Division - it means the world to us."

For more information, visit the Long Division website.