Slam Dunk Festival 2020 moved to September due to coronavirus!

Slam Dunk Festival 2020 moved to September due to coronavirus!

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Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of this year’s Slam Dunk Festival have been forced to cancel the event for the May bank holiday weekend and reschedule it to September.

The organisers made the announcement earlier today, issuing a statement which you can read in full below.

“Dear Friends,

For the first time in our 15 years, we have found ourselves being force into postponing Slam Dunk Festival. This is not a decision we wanted to make but are left with no choice. In light of the global situation it is within the best interest of public health and wellbeing to postpone the festival until later in the year. Furthermore, Leeds City Council have applied a ban to all public events within their grounds, including Temple Newsam, until the end of June. So even if a national quarantine or ban had been finished by then, #SDF2020 still would not be able to happen in May.

Since the pandemic broke out, we had been working tirelessly behind the scenes to deliver the festival you all know and love, whilst keeping your health and safety at the forefront of our operations – it became very apparent that could not be achieved in the current climate. So our focus and hard work switched, and we have spent the last few days working flat-out to save the situation as best as we could.

Slam Dunk Festival 2020 will now take place on:
Saturday 5th September (North – Leeds Temple Newsam)
Sunday 6th September (South – Hatfield House)

We are currently reaching out to all the artists on the line-up and we’ve had an overwhelmingly positive reaction, thus locking in a large percentage of the announced line-up for September, including headliners Don Broco and Sum 41. It has taken us until now to address this publicly because we have chosen to reschedule instead of cancel, and with so many artists playing, countless suppliers and contractors, and an army of staff/crew there is a HUGE amount to co-ordinate to make this reschedule happen. We have a great deal to sort out with an enormous amount of moving parts to consider – please, please bear with us while we do so.

We know a great many of you will have already made plans by booking transport and accommodation for the original dates, and for that we apologise for the inconvenience. However we know a number of hotels and transport companies are now allowing free amendments to bookings so we hope the majority of you can take advantage of that. Additional add-ons, like parking tickets, afterparty tickets and shuttle buses will remain valid for the rescheduled dates.

With all that being said, please remember we are an independent company with a very small team who work relentlessly around the year to deliver this festival to you. Of course none of us wanted this but the decision has been made in the interest of the safety for our bands, staff and all of you.

It is a decision that puts not just our passion, but out livelihoods in the balance like so many others in so many industries as a result of this pandemic. We are publicly appealing now to all of you – to hold onto your tickets. We promise to provide the festival you know and love, just at a later date. We are fans just like you, and this is the scariest time we have faced as a business. We truly appreciate all the time, money and love you have invested into our festival over the years, and we need you now more than ever.

For further and up to date info, please keep an eye on our website.

Please stay safe out there, and we’ll see you soon.

Love, The SDF Team x”

All originally purchased tickets will remain valid for the newly rescheduled dates.

Remaining tickets can be purchased online from the festival’s official website.