The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Ellis hints there will be no festival next year
Festival organisers believe there are too many planning issues to overcome at Strathallan
T in the Park will almost certainly not return next year, festival boss Geoff Ellis said.
Its days at Strathallan Castle could also be numbered, as it emerged DF Concerts are considering other sites.
The festival, which has been a staple of the Scottish summer since 1994, was put on hold after problems at its new Perthshire home.
Now Mr Ellis has all but confirmed it won’t go ahead next year, although he stopped short of making an official announcement.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Mr Ellis addressed mounting speculation that the show would not be returning following the success of his new Glasgow based festival TRNSMT.
DF Concert dropped its heaviest hint yet on Wednesday when it revealed TRSNMT would go ahead again on the traditional T in the Park weekend next July.
Mr Ellis has always insisted the Glasgow Green show – which featured headline sets from Radiohead and Biffy Clyro – was not a replacement for T.
Mr Ellis said it was a “safe assumption” the show will not go ahead in 2018 by saying: “I’m not confirming that, but that’s not a foolish assumption to make.
“We have not yet overcome the (planning) challenges, and it might not be possible to overcome those and that is something we have to take onboard.”
Asking if he was looking at different sites, he said: “We may have to. The main reason we didn’t go ahead this year was the impact and the costs of the planning constraints and we can’t see any way of alleviating that.”
He added: “The days of doing a camping festival on the scale of T in the Park, at 85,000 people a day, are not there any more.
“The audience demand has changed and there’s a rise in a lot of smaller festivals, which splits the market.”
He said TRNSMT and a “major camping festival” – possibly for over-18s only – could coexist.
An economic analysis showed that T in the Park ploughed about £2.7 million into the Perthshire economy.
Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said Mr Ellis’ informal announcement was “very disappointing”.
“The festival is a massive boost for the Perthshire economy and has been a key part of Scotland’s music scene for a long time now,” he said.
“While there were clearly issues to overcome after the move from Balado, we had all hoped that these could be overcome after a year’s pause.”
Mr Wishart added: “I really hope that DF Concerts will reconsider this decision so that we can welcome a major music festival back to Perthshire in the very near future.”
Roseanna Cunningham MSP added: “The move to Strathallan proved difficult, but T in the Park had a mutually-beneficial connection with my constituency for many years.
“I do hope that it will return and that positive relationship can be resumed.”
The days of doing a camping festival on the scale of T in the Park, at 85,000 people, are not there any more. GEOFF ELLIS