Organisers cancel Illusive Festival despite holding out hopes to stage the event

Three-day dance music and performing arts event, the Illusive Festival, has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus.

The festival, held annually at Corby’s Deene Park, is the last of Northamptonshire’s major music festivals to announce it will not take place this year.

However, Illusive’s organisers have said it will return following a ‘full revamp’ with new stages in 2021.

It follows the likes of Shambala, Greenbelt and Cropredy festivals which have all been cancelled in recent months due to Coronavirus restrictions.

In a lengthy statement on the event’s Facebook page, organisers said: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we have taken the difficult decision to postpone Illusive Festival.

“Like so many events this summer, we have held out in the hope that we would be able to hold the festival this year.

“After assessing the most recent Government guidelines and consulting with the relevant authorities however, it has become clear that we would not be able to run the festival the way that we would want to, if at all.”

Illusive Festival was due to take place from Friday, September 11 to Sunday, September 13.

It will return from Friday, September 3 to Sunday, September 5 in 2021.

Set across six music stages and two interactive areas, Illusive attracts DJs, MCs and live acts from across the world playing dance, garage, trance, jungle and drum n’ bass as well as other genres.

It is billed as one of the UK’s best ‘underground’ music festivals.

The online statement goes onto explain that any more work towards trying to stage the festival this year would expose it to, “an even greater extent of financial vulnerability”.

It adds: “Our priority is to secure the future of Illusive Festival for many years to come.”

Fans who have already bought a ticket to this year’s event will have it automatically rolled over to next year. However, refunds will also be available.

Turing to next year’s event, the statement adds: “We are focused on giving the festival a full revamp by making some of the elaborate ideas we’ve had on the back burner a reality.

“This will include new stages, spectacular immersive experiences, bigger sound systems, revised layout and a whole lot more.”

Fans wanting refunds are advised to visit https://theticketsellers.ladesk.com/submit_ticket with other questions submitted to the event’s Facebook page.

All ticket enquiries should go via The TicketSellers.