Organisers explain Sunrise Celebration flooding

United Kingdom | | 02 June 2008

Organisers of the Sunrise Celebration festival have issued a statement explaining why flash flooding caused the Somerset event to be cancelled at the last minute.

The innovative and eco-friendly weekend was the first major casualty of the summer, as heavy rain water logged the site.

Sophie Docker, a Sunrise spokesperson, said: “We apologise for anyone who had difficulty accessing the information put out to the general public last night when the event closed to the public. Our server went down yesterday due to the excessive amount of traffic and the website was migrated to a new server by our IT team overnight.

“We would like to thank everyone involved in the festival for all their hard work and support through this very difficult time and we thank the public for being patient with us and hope to see them again at a later, dryer date.”

The rest of the statement from Sunrise Celebration said: "Due to the adverse weather conditions the Sunrise Celebration Festival 2008 was called off at 8.30 pm on Thursday. At the moment the site is completely flooded and with more severe weather warnings on the way the main concern at the moment is getting everyone off site as quickly as possible. Emergency Planning is in operation and the organizers are working with South Somerset council to clear the site as quickly and smoothly as possible and the welfare team are helping people who have been washed out of their tents.

"The event was called off on Thursday night due to a storm aggravating the already tricky conditions on the site. The river that runs through the middle of the site burst its banks, and a lot of areas became flooded. Flash Flooding has happened across the county and the weather has been extremely unpredictable. Despite all the measures that were taken; extra track way, straw and wood chip, it was impossible for the crew to keep the situation under control and it was deemed a risk to public health and safety.

"Difficult weather conditions affected many festivals in the UK last year, and this weekend events all across the country have been cancelled. The organisers are planning to honor all tickets purchased and will be making a statement on Monday. People are advised to check the website for developments."