End of Yorkshire music festival after main investors lose 'hundreds of thousands'
Organisers have announced the end of a music and comedy festival after its two main investors lost “hundreds of thousands” of pounds – “including at least one house”.
Launched in 2017 by BBC Radio Sheffield DJ Toby Foster and Steve White, Wentfest featured chart-topping pop and soul acts alongside a new music stage and comedy tent.
The festival originally took place in the grounds of Wentworth Woodhouse before moving to Hooton Lodge Farm in Kilnhurst in 2023.
It ran for nine editions—with the 2026 event held on Saturday, June 13 – before organisers announced they would not be able to celebrate their 10th anniversary as “there is just nothing left”, citing poor ticket sales.
Last year, the BBC broadcaster admitted the annual festival had never broken even saying they needed “to make sure that it can now sell enough tickets to support itself, which it hasn’t done so far,” the Rotherham Advertiser reported.
In a post on social media the organisers said: "Our two main investors have lost hundreds of thousands over the years, including at least one house, and can't continue.
“We tried our best, we threw everything at it, but it beat us.
“It is not just us, we can all read, small festivals are pretty much done for, but we really thought we could make it happen in The Dearne Valley.”
Hooton Lodge Farm was praised as an “amazing space with a great team”.
The statement continued: “If we’d started there without building up the debts that the first few years left us with, it may have been a different story. The fact is, another 500 tickets a day and we’d have been fine. We just couldn’t do it.”
UK music festivals have been in a steep decline for a number of years now. There have been at least 20 announcing their closure so far this year, following on from 43 in 2025 and a record 78 closures in 2024.
The Association of Independent Festivals has urged the government to pilot a grassroots music festival tax relief to support independent grassroots festivals.
It said the government's Great British Summer Saving initiative which includes a temporary reduced rate of VAT on family and children’s festival tickets had helped, but they need earlier confirmation that it will continue in 2027.
It comes as Heritage Live has cancelled concerts at Englefield Estate, Audley End Estate and Sandringham Estate – citing “far lower than average ticket sales” and “general financial uncertainty”.
A Heritage Live statement read: “We’re devastated to report heart-breaking news that we have no choice but to cancel this summer’s festivals.”