Stendhal Festival's Unlocked is unable to go ahead next week

Stendhal Festival's Unlocked, billed as Northern Ireland's first socially distanced music festival, has announced that it will be unable to go ahead, in a statement released today.

Due to take place over a series of weekends at Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady, beginning later this month, Unlocked received advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Advisor this week, stating their belief that the events"pose a significant risk to public health and that no events should take place."

"We have poured our heart and soul into this endeavour and fully believe we have an Event Plan and Risk Assessment that would allow the events to take place safely for all involved and which fully complied with the legislation as published under the Department of Health 2020 Act," the statement from Unlocked's Board of Directors reads.

"From the outset we said that while we would do everything within our power to get the events approved, we would always put public health first and act on guidance provided by Government," it continues. "Sadly as a result of this advice from the CMO and CSA and due to the fact that the R rate is on the rise along with the number of localised clusters and confirmed cases across Northern Ireland, we have no alternative but to make the decision to cancel all of the proposed events."

Among the acts set to play Unlocked were Beoga, Kíla, Joshua Burnside, Ciaran Lavery, The Henry Girls, Jordan Adetunji, Cherym, Paddy Casey, Bicurious and General Fiasco.

Refunds for ticket holders will be available through the festival's website by the end of the week. Read the full statement here.