Cliff Top Music Festival 2026 has been cancelled after organisers said delivery challenges had grown.
Stir Events CIC said the decision was one of the most difficult it had ever had to make, after years of work by volunteers, performers, traders, sponsors and supporters to create the community event.
Stir launched ambitious plans to grow the festival for 2026 but was met with objections. The Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council complained, saying Highcliffe residents face weeks of disruption each year under the new plans, which proposed a three day event twice a year.
These plans were scaled back and approved to a two day event, once a year, with Stir Events working with the Council and residents to accomodate their concerns. Stir Managing Director Mandy Polkey says the event has been cut to two days and will finish earlier each day to address the eleven objections sent to BCP Council.
The festival had welcomed thousands of visitors over the years, while supporting local businesses, raising awareness for charitable causes and bringing people together through music, according to the organising team.
In a statement, organisers said the challenges around future delivery had become too great for their small community interest company team to overcome, despite their “passion and commitment” to the event.
They said community events had become increasingly difficult to deliver, adding that scrutiny and concerns were accepted where appropriate, but that ongoing pressures, objections, limited positive support and rising event infrastructure costs had affected the organisation and volunteers.
After reflection, the team said its time, energy and resources would be better used in communities and projects where it felt able to “grow, collaborate and deliver positive outcomes”.
Everyone who bought tickets, volunteered, traded, performed, sponsored or supported the festival was thanked, with organisers saying: “You are the reason the Cliff Top Music Festival became such a special event.”
All ticket holders will receive a refund, and affected traders, artists and sponsors are being contacted directly.
Stir Events CIC said the cancellation is “not the end” of the organisation, and added that it remains passionate about creating events which bring people together.
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