Organisers of Mint Festival have canceled this year's festival in a shock move, just months before it was due to take place at Leeds' Newsam Farm.
Citing the rising costs of petrol, production and transport in the UK, the team behind the festival has shared their decision to cancel the 2022 event in a long, heartfelt post shared to social media on Tuesday afternoon.
Describing the decision to postpone as a 'painful' one, they went on to explain that as an independent festival they have proudly 'operated without corporate sponsorship' for years - and want to keep doing so in the future.
Explaining the decision to cancel this year's September festival, the post said: "For reasons beyond our control this year now looks to be impossible.
"Almost everything required to put on a festival has gone up in price, from fuel to production, staging, transport and crew to name a few.
"This is something we know you will all be feeling too, so we are not willing to simply pass on our costs."
Organisers continued: "While we have been leading the way for a decade, there are now many more festivals that are competing over similar artists.
"Add in the lingering effect of the pandemic, a nationwide backlog of post-pandemic events, and it paints a difficult picture."
Explaining that they'd rather "hit pause" on this year's festival in order to avoid "squeezing more money out of you for tickets, drinks and food", they went on to reassure festival-goers they will be "working hard over the next year to build our own infrastructure which will ensure we can be more sustainable for years to come."
Image: Mint Festival
The post added: "We're as disappointed as you are with this news. We massively appreciate your support n these testing times because without you there would be no Mint Festival. But we will be back, bigger and better than ever in 2023."
As a result of the last-minute cancellation of this year's event, all 2022 tickets will automatically move over to Mint Festival 2023.
However, refunds are also available in full, and those wanting a refund of their 2022 ticket are being advised to contact their ticketing provider.
Feature image - Mint Festival
News
Leeds band Yard Act announce 2026 UK tour including homecoming gig
Yard Act are back as they announce first round of UK headline dates since 2024.
We are so, so back.
It's been a few years, but Yard Act have just announced a small selection of UK gigs for later in the year including a homecoming gig at the O2 Academy on Friday 6 November.
The dates follow the band’s first show of the year at the 6Music Festival this Friday across The Pennines in Manchester.
After Leeds, the lads will be performing shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse on Friday 13 November before making their way down south to the O2 Academy in Brixton on Thursday 26 November.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Yard Act completed the touring for their critically acclaimed second album Where’s My Utopia? with a victory lap back home at the 5000 capacity Millennium Square in Leeds in August 2024.
It was a record that brought a stark change of pace to the acerbic, post-punk of their debut, embracing something altogether more playful and bringing a different energy. It shifted the dynamic on stage too, with the addition of dancing backing singers and additional musicians and openly challenged listeners to reconsider who they thought Yard Act were.
Since then, the band have remained active, whether writing Where’s My Utopia’s follow-up on scratching the itch to get back on stage, heading out across the UK and Europe with The Hives, which was preceded by an intimate one-off show at Blackpool Tower last May.
Following a lengthy stint in the studio, the band now look to the Autumn for three big UK dates and we cannot wait.
Tickets go on artist presale from 10am on Wednesday 25 March before hitting general sale at 10am on Friday 27 March. Sign up here.
Estimated to be worth around £45 million, the Grade II-listed structure renovations won't begin for a little while just yet, but it is set to increase the capacity of the space by more than 50%.
Announced on Tuesday, 24 March, the major refurb will be partly funded by public money and topped up by the private sector and "philanthropic partners".
The UK government and Sheffield City Council will be pumping in approximately £35m, with a further £10m being added through the investment mentioned above.
Soon to allow the theatre to scale up or down in size, the hope is that the new 'in the round' format will enable the Crucible to serve its arts and sporting audiences for decades to come, as well as opening the big Northern stage up to new opportunities.
Due to start in the summer of 2028, it's still unclear as to the exact completion date, but the plans are in support of confirmation that the annual snooker tournament will stay put.
A fresh agreement with the WSC will see them stay in Sheff until at least 2045, with the Crucible's number of seats set to jump from just under 1,000 to 1,480.
It's also said there is an option in the deal to extend the contract until 2050, and as one of the biggest competitive events that comes to the city year in and year out, you would expect them to push hard for the Council and partners to push hard for this, too.
Credit: Bread and Butter PR (supplied)
Dan Walker, Chair of Sheffield Theatres Trust, said in a statement: "The Crucible is a wonderful theatre with a brilliant reputation, and the positive impact of this investment will be seen for years to come.
"As a proud resident of Sheffield, I know the importance of snooker to our city, but this isn’t only good news for Sheffield: this is amazing news for the north of England and the whole of the UK."
If all goes to plan, the overhaul should take around 18 months, with productions being hosted in the Lyceium and the newest room, the Montgomery.
All the while, the Sheffield Theatres will continue to present new work both domestically and around the globe over this period, with more details coming this autumn 2026.
Georgina Pellant -
28th June 2022 
