Buxton International Festival 2020 cancelled

In light of the current coronavirus pandemic, organisers of the Buxton International Festival have decided to cancel the event.

This is the first time in forty years that the festival, scheduled to take place in July 2020, has had to be cancelled.

A statement from the organisers reads:  “This is an enormous disappointment but the health and well-being of our audience, our volunteers, the BIF team and all the artists involved is of primary concern.

The government’s scientific advice makes it clear that the peak of this dreadful epidemic is still ahead of us and we have no means of knowing what the position will be by July.

Following the most recent government statement prompting the closure of the Buxton Opera House, and with artists, authors, and musicians increasingly unable to travel, we cannot deliver a Festival of the quality you expect.

The trustees of Buxton International Festival are acutely conscious of the impact this decision will have on our artists and businesses in the town of Buxton and the High Peak.

To safeguard the viability of the Festival for 2021 and beyond we must cancel this year but with your continued support, and our invaluable ‘Friends’ membership, we can look after our core staff and return with a better than ever Festival in 2021.

Buxton International Festival is unique in the range of original productions it commissions each year. Ticket sales only cover about half of the overall costs and we rely on donations and sponsorship from our Friends and supporters.

All tickets booked and paid for will be fully refunded. However, if you felt able to convert all or part or what you have paid into a donation, we would be enormously grateful.

If you are a UK taxpayer, we would also be able to claim Gift Aid on the value of your donation, increasing the value by 25%.

Donations like this would be a tremendous help towards recovering from this calamitous event and ensuring we can deliver an outstanding Festival which will take place from 2 – 18 July 2021.

The Buxton International Festival team will be in touch with all ticket bookers within the next two weeks regarding information on refunds via email, or post if you have not provided an email.

We kindly ask in this busy time that you refrain from calling the Buxton International Festival office or the Buxton Opera House Box Office until you have received your next communications from us. We will be grateful for your patience. 

Thank you to all our Friends, the Foundation, our sponsors and supporters, to our local authority, businesses, the Arts Council of England, our staff and our volunteers all of whom are working tirelessly to ensure that the Buxton International Festival and the artists on whom it depends will be able to mount our much-loved Festival next year and in the future.

We wish you and your families well and please keep safe in these trying times.”