The organisers of Sonisphere festival have confirmed that this Summer’s event has been cancelled.

Due to take place between 6th – 8th July the festival had already announced it’s line up with headline performances supposed to come from Queen, Kiss and Faith No More however today it has been confirmed that the festival has been cancelled. In a statement announcing the festivals cancellation the organisers spoke of putting together the festival as an ‘impossible task’ however they stayed clear of mentioning poor ticket sales, the reason many believe the festival is being cancelled.

The official statement said, ‘It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012. Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar. Unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere’s audience would rightly expect.’

They also went on to say, ‘We want to express our deepest regrets to the artists and to thank all the staff, suppliers and contractors who worked so hard with us to try and pull off what has proven to be an impossible task and we know how much they share in our disappointment. We also want to send a huge thanks to the Sonisphere fans who stuck by us and we are so sorry that we can’t fulfil what we set out to do’.

This is not the first festival to take a hiatus this year with Big Chill festival and Glastonbury all taking the year off but this is the first festival to be cancelled after tickets have gone on sale and after performers have been announced. Organisers have promised that all ticket holders will receive a full refund in the coming week.

See more festival news here.

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