Wibbly Woods Festival cancels its 2026 edition over land permission dispute

Wibbly Woods Festival has cancelled its 2026 edition, just a month before the boutique event was due to take place. Organisers announced the cancellation via Instagram on August 12, citing permission issues at the festival's new site at Prestwold Hall Estate in Loughborough.

"We are absolutely gutted," organisers wrote. "We are incredibly sorry to everyone who has supported us: our ticket holders, artists, traders and staff." They said everyone involved had put their time, energy and faith into making this year's event, the festival's sixth edition, happen; it had been due to feature Goose, Sam Bangura, Baby Rollen, Fae, La.Cassette and Archie Holmes as part of its usual mix of electronic music and boutique programming.

Organisers said that despite "countless" site visits and completed planning, they had recently discovered a problem with the land's ownership. "We initially understood that our direct contact at the new festival site was the sole legal owner," they explained. "We subsequently learned that the land was under shared ownership, and that the co-owner had neither been informed of nor consented."

The team said it had "explored every realistic option" to keep the festival going, but with only weeks remaining before the planned September 3-7 dates, "relocating and rebuilding elsewhere simply isn't possible."

Wibbly Woods ticketholders will be offered a refund or the option to transfer their ticket to the 2027 edition, with organisers promising further details on the process "as soon as we can." No new site has yet been confirmed for next year's festival, which MusicSuey is tracking on the festival tracker.