MugStock festival postponed until 2023 due to spiralling event costs due to Brexit and pandemic

A music festival due to make its debut in Perthshire this summer has been postponed for a further year.

MugStock was due to make the move from Mugdock Country Park in East Dunbartonshire to Strathallan Castle in August.

However the independent festival, which launched in 2015 and was due to move to the former T in the Park site this summer, has now pushed the date back to August 4 to 7 2023.

Organisers claimed that if the festival had been held in England then it would have been able to go ahead as costs to host the event have spiralled due to the impact of the pandemic and Brexit.

MugStock said festivals south of the border benefitted on average from three times as much financial support than Scottish festivals, based on grant income divided by event capacity.

Planning director Alan Govan said: “We are proud to have created so many joyous moments since 2015, and we’re proud to still be surviving despite the challenges faced by us all in the past two years.

“Our volunteer-led, charitable status has given us lower overheads and increased access to support, but the landscape is far from predictable, and for our wee team it feels too risky to try to bring our festival to a new site in a year already overflowing with a backlog of many-times postponed gigs and events.

“We wholeheartedly urge festival fans to support the sector and visit as many of them as possible this summer!”

Culture Minister Neil Gray responded: “Since the beginning of the pandemic the Scottish Government has announced £256m support to the culture, creative, heritage and events sectors, tailored to particular circumstances in Scotland. This includes support for independent music festivals and over £28m to support creative freelancers.

“Music festivals play an important role in Scotland’s cultural life and we are keen to see these take place across Scotland. Unfortunately the cancellation of these events is not a Scotland-only issue, with several music festivals in England cancelling recently.

“We are keen to continue to work with the Coalition of Independent Music Festivals alongside EventScotland and Creative Scotland to ensure a strong and sustainable sector.”