The casualties of Covid-19 continue to mount. Mat Burt and Andy George, directors of the Vault Festival, have postponed holding the next one until 2021. The premises in Leake Streetunder Waterloo Station have provided a place to perform for all sorts of performance artists from all backgrounds - it is a home for the weird, the wonderful, the ambitious and sometimes the downright terrible. But everyone is doing their own thing. The Festival is non funded and makes its income from ticket sales, food & drink and fund raising so does not have the margins to be able to ride out a less than great programme let alone implement social distancing effectively and protect the performers from exposure to increased financial and safety risks.
They will. however, be working to generate live and digital opportunities for their artists throughout 2021 and drawing up their plans for the Festival's 10th anniversary in 2022.
"The prospect of not doing a festival in 2021 is daunting, but our mission is more important than ever," they said. "Our commitment is to continue working to provide an accessible platform that best serves our artist, audiences and staff throughout 2021. We want to make our community, industry and our world more accessible, more inclusive and more sustainable. We'll be back - better - soon."
William Russell