Organisers of the Boomtown Fair music festival have announced they are cancelling this summer’s event, blaming pandemic uncertainty and the lack of a Government-backed insurance scheme.

The 65,000 ticket event which sold out in February was set to be held near Winchester, Hampshire, from August 11 to 15.

But the organisers said the ongoing uncertainty forced them to take the “difficult decision” to postpone to August 2022.

They said in a statement: “After almost half a year of collective campaigning to the Government, sadly Covid-specific cancellation insurance for events still does not exist at this point in time.

“This means anyone putting on an event this year will be doing so without the safety net of insurance to cover them should Covid prevent them from going ahead in any capacity.

“For an independent event as large and complex as Boomtown, this is a huge gamble of up to an eight-figure sum and the financial risk is simply too high.”

The organisers have confirmed that all 2021 tickets will automatically remain valid for 2022.

They added: “We have been doing everything within our power to try to find a solution to the conundrum of putting on a safe and well-run event to the sheer scale, complexity and intricate nature of Boomtown this summer.

“Unfortunately, without any clear indication of what size events will be able to take place, and the conditions in which we will be able to operate, we have come to the conclusion that time has simply run out for us to be able to proceed in a way that would live up to our high safety and production standards for the event we had planned.”

Other events which have been cancelled this summer include Glastonbury, Download and British Summer Time in Hyde Park while others including Reading and Leeds festivals and Isle of Wight are planned to go ahead.