Tapton Lock Festival 2024 is cancelled after cash-strapped Derbyshire County Council' withdraw staff support

The free weekend of activities, held annually every September, was launched by Junction Arts in conjunction with the county council more than a decade ago.

Emily Bowman, managing director at Junction Arts said: “We are disappointed not to be staging the festival this year, Derbyshire County Council is a key partner for us and has worked closely with us to support the event for over 10 years for which we are incredibly grateful. The festival relies on many hours of council staff’s time to make the festival happen each year and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the council’s Countryside Services, whose hard work and commitment have made it possible for us to stage the free festival year-on-year.”

"However, we remain positive and would like to reassure people that this is not the end of the Tapton Lock Festival. We are busy planning a smaller-scale activity for local people to enjoy and we hope that the full festival will return in 2025.”

Junction Arts is aiming to stage an art commission including involvement from the local community on September 7 and 8 in the space. The charity will be exploring alternative support for the festival going forward.

Councillor Carolyn Renwick, Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for infrastructure and environment, said: "It's with a heavy heart that we've had to withdraw staff support for the Tapton Lock Festival this year, having worked in partnership with Junction Arts to run the festival for more than a decade.

"Like councils up and down the country, we're facing far greater financial pressures than ever experienced before due to factors beyond our control and tough decisions are needed to help balance the books.

“The challenges we’re facing include inflationary pressures, staff pay awards agreed nationally but paid locally, reduced funding from Central Government, high borrowing costs and continuing increasing demand on our services – particularly in adults’ and children’s social care. But with prudent financial management and close monitoring of our budget position this year, we should be in a position to provide some staff support for the festival next year."