logo
Northern Kin festival cancelled after efforts to save it fail

Northern Kin festival cancelled after efforts to save it fail

BBC News05-06-2025

A festival has been cancelled after attempts to save it did not succeed, organisers say.Northern Kin was due to take place at Thornley Hall farm, in County Durham, at the beginning of August.Organiser Wannasee Ltd had previously said discussions were under way to preserve the festival after 10 of its other events, including Stone Valley North and Kubix, were cancelled at the end of May.But a social media post on Wednesday confirmed Northern Kin would not be going ahead, despite the team having worked "around the clock" to find a way to run it.
"We are heartbroken to confirm that Northern Kin will not be going ahead this year," the post said."The team have been working around the clock the past couple of weeks trying to find a way to run the festival, but despite our best efforts, we are unable to do so."It joins Sunderland's Kubix and Monument festivals, Stone Valley North in Thornley, County Durham, Wannasee Penrith, Wannasee South, Jukebox Sunderland and Jukebox Bingley, Sign of the Times, Stone Valley South and Stone Valley Midlands in being cancelled.Wannasee Ltd had previously said it was "not able to continue" with the events and was in discussions with liquidators, but added discussions to preserve Lindisfarne Festival and Northern Kin were under way.The company has been contacted for a comment.
Northern Kin previously faced criticism from fans over traffic problems and issues with toilets, water supply and disabled access at its previous site in Ushaw, County Durham.
Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Lady Eliza Spencer reveals the heartbreaking question she asked her father when Princess Diana died
Lady Eliza Spencer reveals the heartbreaking question she asked her father when Princess Diana died

Daily Mail​

time37 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Lady Eliza Spencer reveals the heartbreaking question she asked her father when Princess Diana died

Lady Eliza Spencer has recalled her heartbreaking reaction to her aunt Princess Diana 's death in 1997. Eliza, 32, who models for high-end fashion brands alongside her identical twin sister, Lady Amelia, is one of Diana's younger brother's seven children. The blonde beauty's father, Earl Charles Spencer, 61, shared a very close childhood bond with the late princess and has described his sister's death as 'an amputation'. Eliza, who was raised in Cape Town, South Africa, with her twin, her older sister Lady Kitty, 34, and her younger brother Louis, Viscount Althorp, 31, and her half brother Samuel Aitken, 22, told The Standard that Diana came to stay with the family 'just a few months before she passed away'. Recalling the visit, she said: 'We were five, but we remember going to the beach with her, and her being a very gentle and kind and sweet figure in our lives.' When Charles told the twins that Diana, who was only 36, had died, Eliza responded with the question: 'But not in real life, Daddy?' 'We thought it couldn't be real,' Eliza reflected. In the same interview, the twin sisters spoke about their recent, seventies-inspired fashion campaign with quintessentially British brand Aspinal of London. They also revealed that their mother, former model Victoria Lockwood, 60, has been their 'biggest fashion role model' and 'biggest cheerleader' professionally. Referring to their mother, Amelia added: 'She's so naturally chic, she never tries too hard - it's less is more.' Their father Charles has spoken openly about his grief for Diana and last month described losing her as 'such an amputation'. Reflecting on his 'sibling grief', he also revealed that he always felt an intense need to protect Diana - and even intervened when a journalist wrote a 'horrendous article' about her. Charles appeared on ITV 's Loose Men - a variant of the channel's daily show Loose Women - which is back on screens to mark Mental Health Awareness week. Reflecting on losing the sister he shared his childhood with, Charles said: 'It's such an amputation. 'You grow up with these people, they are your flesh and blood, they're with you forever – and then they're gone.' Describing losing a sibling as 'a really extraordinary thing', Charles recalled how, even years after his sister's untimely death at the age of 36, he would still think to pick up the phone and call her. He said: 'For years after Diana died, I would think, "I must ring her and tell her something," because we shared the same sense of humour.' 'You just realise, of course, that's not going to happen,' he added. While Charles also grew up with two other sisters - Lady Sarah McCorquodale, 70, and Lady Jane Fellowes, 68 - he was much closer in age with Diana, who would have been 63 today, and said they grew up together. He said: 'I don't share my childhood with anyone anymore. That's a great loss that you can never really put right.' Charles, who last year published a harrowing account of the abuse he was subjected to at Maidwell Hall prep school, also told fellow panelist Craig Doyle about the responsibility he felt to protect Diana. Despite being only 16 when Diana burst into 'the public light in 1981', Charles was eager to 'get stuck in' and 'deal with the photographers who were plaguing her.' On another occasion, he really did get involved, contacting a journalist who had written 'a really horrendous article' about her himself. He explained: 'I remember just before she died, a female journalist wrote a really horrendous article – because by that stage I don't think that journalist was thinking of Diana as a person.' Charles regretted that Diana had become 'something to make money out of' and wrote an 'outraged letter' to the journalist, which developed into 'a bit of a to and fro'. He concluded: 'I think, particularly as a brother of a sister, you always feel like you want to get stuck in really.' Earl Spencer's parents had five children between 1955 and 1964. Lady Sarah McCorquodale was born in 1955 and Lady Jane Fellowes followed two years later. The couple's third child, John Spencer, died hours after being born in January, 1960. The late Princess Diana was born in 1961 and the youngest, Earl Charles Spencer, was born in 1964. The siblings' father John worked as a royal equerry for both King George VI and the young Queen Elizabeth II, and the family initially rented a home at the royal estate in Sandringham. When Frances and John divorced, the two youngest Spencer siblings lived with their father, who Charles described as 'quiet and a constant source of love' in a 2020 interview with The Sunday Times.

How Retailers Can Balance Customer Experience and Policy Abuse: By Doriel Abrahams
How Retailers Can Balance Customer Experience and Policy Abuse: By Doriel Abrahams

Finextra

time44 minutes ago

  • Finextra

How Retailers Can Balance Customer Experience and Policy Abuse: By Doriel Abrahams

In today's e-commerce landscape, retailers face an increasingly challenging problem - policy abuse. New research report revealed that a staggering 70% of U.K. consumers believe retailers make it far too easy to abuse their returns policies - and yet these same shoppers are also demanding the convenience and seamless experience these policies provide. This creates a significant issue for retailers navigating the need to deliver frictionless customer experiences while also implementing protection to mitigate such issues. It's becoming an ever more complicated issue between convenience and security, with many businesses struggling to balance customer satisfaction metrics against the rising rates of returns abuse, refund fraud, and policy manipulation that directly impact the bottom-line. After the pandemic, and with most shopping now happening online, fixing this problem isn't just about preventing losses - it's crucial for keeping legitimate customers happy, creating operational efficiencies and staying ahead of competitors. Why the rise in retail policy abuse? The report also found an even more concerning trend - that the majority of U.K. shoppers (52%) admit to deliberately abusing online retail policies within the past year. Even more telling is the fact that 29% of those who took advantage of retailers' policies did so specifically to avoid paying full price. So what's driving this behaviour and normalising fraud? Several factors appear to be at play here. Firstly, the cost-of-living crisis has pushed consumers to find other ways to stretch their budgets. And secondly, the very nature of shopping online has created a separation between buyers and sellers, reducing the moral considerations that might otherwise prevent policy abuse such as this. Thirdly, many consumers have also come to view these tactics as "shopping hacks" rather than abuse, particularly as they see retailers making record profits despite inflation. What is the cost of overcorrection? Retailers might be tempted to respond with blanket policy restrictions, but our research suggests this approach carries some significant risks. Nearly one in five consumers (18%) have completely abandoned retailers that implemented stricter return policies. This highlights the delicate balance retailers must strike. While policy abuse costs billions annually, the potential revenue loss from alienating legitimate customers could be even more devastating. And with customer acquisition costs continuing to rise, retention is becoming even more valuable than ever. It's time to move beyond a 'one-size-fits-all' approach The fundamental problem with current approaches is their lack of nuance and personalisation. Most retailers implement uniform policies that treat all customers the same - either too permissive (inviting abuse) or too restrictive (driving away loyal customers). The solution lies in personalisation at scale and differentiating between these different sets of customers. By understanding who they're doing business with, retailers can implement dynamic policies tailored to each individual customer behaviour and history. Forward-thinking retailers are already leveraging advanced technology to maintain this balance. By implementing systems that can accurately identify trustworthy customers versus potential abusers, businesses can offer differentiated experiences. However, this approach demands sophisticated identity management and behaviour analysis capabilities. The most effective solutions leverage network intelligence across millions of shoppers and transactions to accurately distinguish legitimate shopping behaviour from abuse patterns. The research makes clear that policy abuse is a significant and growing challenge for retailers. However, the solution isn't to punish all customers with restrictive policies. Instead, by leveraging technology to distinguish between trustworthy customers and potential abusers, retailers can strike the crucial balance between customer-friendly experiences and protection against serial exploitation. In today's competitive retail environment, those who master this balance will not only protect their margins but also build deeper customer loyalty through experiences that feel both flexible and fair. It can be solved - but only through intelligence, personalisation, and a commitment to differentiating between genuine customers and potentially fraudulent transactions.

Mystery EuroMillions winner has two days to claim £1M prize
Mystery EuroMillions winner has two days to claim £1M prize

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

Mystery EuroMillions winner has two days to claim £1M prize

A EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker winner has only two days left to claim a £1,000,000 prize from a 27 December draw. The winning ticket, with code XDQM36414, was purchased in Wiltshire, and the deadline to claim is Wednesday. National Lottery operator Allwyn has made extensive appeals for the mystery winner to come forward over the past six months. If the prize remains unclaimed, the £1,000,000 and any accrued interest will be allocated to the National Lottery Good Causes fund. Lottery winners have 180 days to claim their winnings, and unclaimed funds support various community and national projects nationwide.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store