Ramblin’ Man Fair promoters Spirit of Rock have applied for voluntary liquidation.
Having been unable to stage the popular hard rock/outlaw country/blues/prog event in 2020, due to the global coronavirus pandemic, it was hoped that the festival would return to Mote Park in Maidstone, Kent this year on July 16-18, with Clutch, Massive Wagons, The Quireboys, Big Big Train and Eric Gales among the acts booked to appear.
However, the 2021 event was cancelled on May 10, with promoters Spirit Of Rock stating:
“The reasons are many but all - unsurprisingly - are linked to the ongoing COVID-related complications that challenge events in the early summer of this year, whether its the lack of government backed insurance scheme, no support from government funds that we applied for, ongoing travel restrictions on major artists, increased costs for crowd safety and potential testing - the list goes on.”
The promoters have now applied for voluntary liquidation, according to documents filed at Companies House.
In a statement posted on Facebook in the early hours of July 9, the event organisers have pledged to bring the festival back in 2022.
The statement reads:
“Dear all,
We are bitterly disappointed with the cancellation of Ramblin’ Man Fair festival in 2021. It has been a huge challenge for RMF‘s parent company, Sprit of Rock, to navigate through the past 18 months both financially and emotionally. Unfortunately we have to announce that SOR will no longer be in operation as a result of disruption and upheaval that we faced through the pandemic, which caused long tail effects into the summer of 2021.
As anybody who has come to the festival over the years is well aware, RMF is a project of passion and the team have developed an amazing event, developed an incredible community of like-minded people and generated lifelong memories during the five year run under SOR.
But the dream lives on and our beloved Ramblin Man Fair WILL return in July 2022, exact dates TBA very soon. Our firm belief is that with the vaccine rollout building pace worldwide, you can be sure that international acts will return to Mote Park in 2022.
The RMF torch will now be held by Mr Jake Seal, an avid Rambler, movie mogul and experienced entertainment professional. Jake would like to thank the SOR team for building an exceptional experience and is looking forward to following their lead in taking the festival into 2022 and beyond.
Any remaining 2021 ticket holders can be rolled over to 2022 and more details will be announced on this in the next few weeks.
Rest assured, we will ramble on and together we will protect and build upon the wonderful foundations of the last few years. What makes RMF so special is the community spirit. RMF needs its Ramblers and the SOR team would like to thank you from the bottom of their hearts for your loyalty, friendship and for sharing our passion for real music, real food and real ales!
The incomparable RMF experience will live on in 2022 with an exciting line up already taking shape including artist residencies, improved camping and some all new attractions to be added into the fibre of the festival. You can expect fine cigars, even more quality food & real ale choices, some live streaming discussions and of course some amazing headliners to rock our stages.
As you may remember In 2019 we road tested a holographic experience, so, rest assured, we will not be sitting on our laurels in 2022 either - with detailed talks taking place for other augmented experiences to add to the traditional, classic Ramblin' vibe.”
Posted by ramblinmanfair on
Ticket holders who do not wish to roll over their tickets for the 2022 event are advised to apply to their credit card company for a refund.
