The festival began as a free, one-day, community event in 2023, attended by about 8,000 people.
Polkey previously said its popularity had been unexpected, putting pressure on parking and traffic, so fencing and ticketing was introduced in 2024, along with a park-and-ride.
About 2,500 people attended in 2025.
Stir Events sought permission for a three-day festival in 2026 but scaled it back to two days following objections, with 4,500 tickets available each day.
During the licensing consultation, Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council was among 22 respondents citing concerns about noise, antisocial behaviour and transport issues, according to the Local Government Reporting Service.
But it awarded the event a £10,000 grant in 2025 and £8,500 in 2024, and said it was expecting an application for 2026.
Polkey said she had not applied, anticipating it would be refused.
The parish council said the cancellation was “a loss to music lovers”.
A spokesperson said: “It’s been a fixture here for three years and the parish council has provided significant grant funding to keep it going.
“This cancellation has come as a great surprise and will be a huge blow to everyone who’s worked so hard on it.”
Ticket holders are being refunded.
Headliners Robert Arkins Commitments said they would perform at the Old Fire Station, Bournemouth, instead.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bbc.co.uk ’














