The Splendour Festival in Nottingham has been a summer staple for 18 years, but organisers have announced that the 2026 event will be the last due to a sharp hike in costs
Fans of a much-loved UK festival are being called upon to unite for “one last hurrah” as ut draws to a close after 18 years. Nottingham’s Splendour Festival launched at Wollaton Park in 2008, but now organisers said the expense of staging festivals has climbed “sharply” while household finances have come under enormous pressure.
DHP Family has therefore announced that this July’s event – boasting acts such as Snow Patrol, Primal Scream and Craig David – will mark the final chapter. George Akins, the managing director of DHP Family, revealed to the Nottingham Post: “It’s been a wonderful experience for so many people, for so many years.
“People have met their wives and husbands there, grandparents have been there with their grandchildren, and people who’ve grown up with it have taken their own children to it.
“It’s been a staple diet of the Nottingham summer since 2008 and this is going to be a really great opportunity for those people who have enjoyed it over the years to come back for one last hurrah.”
Performers to have taken to the Wollaton Park stage over the years have included Noel Gallagher, Madness, Manic Street Preachers, Anne-Marie, Jess Glynne and countless others, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
Mr Akins explains there are a “multitude” of reasons behind the decision to bring Splendour to an end, including previous tendering disputes with the city council that resulted in the event being scrapped in 2024, and the challenge of raising ticket prices while maintaining accessibility.
On the latter point, Mr Akins commented: “With stadium shows all around the country, those ticket prices have increased way beyond inflation. Some of those ticket prices are eye-watering.
“We’re an independent company, we want to make live music accessible for everybody, we don’t just want upper-middle-class people to be able to go to live music.
“But essentially, the business case is no longer there for the event, it just doesn’t stack up financially, so we’ve had to make that difficult decision, because it’s got to be profitable and that’s not the case anymore.”
In a bid to entice as many people as possible to experience the final Splendour, organisers have unveiled a special two-for-one deal, allowing individuals to purchase a day ticket and receive another absolutely free.
Since the festival’s inception in 2008, over 150,000 discounted tickets for residents and 30,000 free tickets for children have been distributed.
The festival’s history has seen a host of emerging Nottingham artists take to the stage, including Jake Bugg, who headlined in 2013 just two years after opening the acoustic courtyard stage.
Reflecting on his favourite moments from the festival, Mr Akins said: “That first year, it was only 15 quid. The city council were really wanting to make it affordable for the city residents.
“That was the vision – to support local music, creating an international-level event in our city, so that we could deliver something really uplifting, something the city could be proud of.
“It’s about supporting local music and giving an ecosystem to supporting local music, which we have championed again and again at DHP via all of our events and Splendour has had a huge impact on that.
“The year Jake Bugg headlined was the year that we really saw the benefit of what we did for local music. You saw all of these heavy hitting local acts.
“Before Splendour happened, no band from Nottingham ever sold out Rock City, and then post this show you had Dog is Dead, Ferocious Dog did it – that was an exciting thing to see.”
Councillor Neghat Khan, leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “We’re proud to have helped develop Splendour into a Nottingham institution since its inception in 2008.
“The festival has showcased an incredible breadth of talent – from emerging Nottingham artists who went on to achieve great success, to internationally renowned performers.
“Beyond the music, it created a joyful, welcoming, and family-friendly atmosphere, where countless Nottingham residents made lasting memories.
“We hope now that many of you will turn out to say goodbye and make this final festival a fitting celebration of Splendour’s legacy in Nottingham.”
Speaking about the final day of this year’s festival, Mr Akins said: “The event has been amazing, so it’s going to be an emotional end.
“I’m really glad that we’re able to give everyone this opportunity to end off in style. It would be a pity to have gone and then find out afterwards it was the last one, but we know this is the last one.”