Slovakia’s biggest music festival, Pohoda Festival, has been cancelled after a storm blew over a tent injuring 12 people.
Due to safety concerns the festival organisers announced today that the festival, held at Trenčín Airport, would be cut short and instructed attendees to leave via ‘special evacuation buses’.
The festival’s line up included James Blake, Skepta, Royal Blood, Pendulum, Noname, Arlo Parks and Black Pumas.
Performances by Morcheeba and Royal Blood, which were scheduled for Friday night, did not take place after a storm swept through the grounds and tore down a tent.
The Slovak Spectator report that 12 people of the 30,000 attendees were injured when one of the big tents collapsed on festival-goers, with eight of them taken to hospitals in Trenčín and Považská Bystrica for minor head and arm injuries.
The outlet reports it is estimated ‘dozens’ of people were inside the tent when it collapsed, waiting for the music to begin. They were reportedly warned not to stand near the tent poles due to the incoming storm, and were informed that the festival was being suspended.
Many reportedly fled the festival after the storm before an official cancellation announcement was made. At 8pm on Friday evening, organisers said the festival was being suspended due to the storms.
Today, they released a statement on their website announcing the festival was being cancelled.
‘After careful consideration of the time constraints for inspecting the safety of the festival structures, we have decided that we must cancel Pohoda 2024,’ the festival’s website reads.
‘Based on the available information, inspecting all the structures could not be completed in less than 24 hours, which makes it impossible to continue with the festival programme.
‘The safety of our guests is our priority, and therefore we believe that our decision, made with great regret, will be understood by everyone.
‘We expect to be able to provide information shortly about the extreme weather that affected our festival and the consequences it had on the festival structures.
‘All those with tents in the camping area may stay overnight at the festival until 12:00 noon tomorrow. The centre of the venue will remain closed. We will ensure a basic supply of drinks and food in the camping areas.
‘The festival car park and caravan parking will remain open until 4 PM.’
The festival followed up the announcement with further information on the buses, which had ‘sufficient capacity’ to transport anyone who wants to use them out of the festival.
Organisers also said they were sending ‘vans to the tent towns’ with ‘water and baked goods’ for festival-goers.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Pohoda Festival organisers for comment.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : 00s pop icon pulls out of UK festival performance due to ‘exhaustion’
MORE : Fans shocked by ‘timeless’ frontwoman as iconic 90s band makes their return
Share this with