July 12, 2002 15:53

NON ESSENTIAL!

"Adverse weather conditions" and "significant financial difficulties" are blamed for organisers' second disaster of the year...

The ESSENTIAL FESTIVAL in LONDON has been cancelled because of the "significant financial difficulties" caused by the "disastrous" BRISTOL event earlier in the summer.

Essential had organised a two-day event for August 3-4 at Hackney Marshes, which billed appearances from bands including Morcheeba, DJ Shadow, Orb, Goldie and Aphex Twin.

However, organisers have issued a statement saying the festival will now not take place.

It reads: "It is with very sad regret that Essential Entertainments are announcing the cancellation of the forthcoming Essential Festival due to be held over the 3rd and 4th August in London's Hackney Marshes.

"Essential have made this very difficult decision after considering a number of issues in the build up to the event. The disastrous Rock Day at Bristol's Essential Festival has created significant financial difficulties for the event, which have not been able to be sufficiently resolved. In addition to this, the site suffered considerable damage after the adverse weather conditions that Mardi Gras had to face last weekend, with the result that Essential are not wholly confident that the location would be suitable for hosting the festival.

"This year has also seen a substantial slump in the market for outdoor events, with the notable exceptions of Glastonbury and Oasis, with many of the major events being subject to low attendance."

A shadow has hung over the Essential camp following criticisms over the Bristol event in May. The day before the festival was due to start, organisers' claimed bad weather had led to several stages being shut for the 'Rock Day', leading to acts such as Reef and Therapy? being bumped from the line-up.

In the fall-out, organisers received complaints from irate fans, unhappy that acts they paid to see were pulled at the eleventh hour.

A spokesperson for the event told NME.COM that no decisions had been made on whether or not Essential would be organising festivals in the future, but added that all concerned were "proud of what we had achieved in making the festival such a unique event on the calendar".