December 21, 2012 13:09

Sonisphere will not return in 2013

The metal festival was cancelled in 2012

Photo: Danny North/NME

Organisers have confirmed that the UK leg of Sonisphere will take a "year off" in 2013.

The hard rock festival, which began in 2009 and takes place at Knebworth, was cancelled in 2012, casting doubt over whether it will ever return.

A statement from the organisers reads: "We think it is really important that the event only runs when it has a line up that sets it apart from the competition while also carrying a ticket price that allows us to offer real value for money to the music fans. We were hoping to do that in 2013 but unfortunately it wasn't possible to fulfil both aims with the principle problem of there being a lack of available headliners of the calibre of previous festivals at Knebworth. We made offers to over a dozen major artists but for various reasons none of these offers lead to securing a strong bill."

The festival will still take place in Amneville, France and Milan, Italy in 2013, with headliners including Iron Maiden.

The 2012 Sonisphere festival was cancelled on March 29 this year. It was due to feature performances from Kiss, Queen and Adam Lambert and Faith No More More. On announcing the cancellation, organisers said that co-ordinating the festival to an appropriate standard this year had proved more difficult than expected.

Sonisphere 2011 took place between July 8 and July 10, 2011, with headliners Metallica, Slipknot and Biffy Clyro.

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