Manchester festival refunds tickets after venue backlash

A live music event billed as "a new festival for Manchester" has offered ticket-holders a refund, after organisers revealed it will be held more than 50 miles from the city centre.

It comes after acclaimed electronic duo ANOTR announced the No Art festival was returning to the city - with tickets going on sale for £85 in January, while the location of the event was still undisclosed.

Last week organisers announced the event would be held at Bolesworth Castle - more than an hour's drive from Manchester - leaving some ticket-holders unimpressed.

Organisers have apologised "for any inconvenience" and offered refunds, adding: "We will definitely take a learning from this situation for the future."

Electronic music festival, No Art Manchester Open Air Festival, is returning to the area for the first time in four years - amid promises it could be the biggest show of its kind outside Amsterdam, where the event first began.

Bolesworth Castle is located just south of Tattenhall, in Cheshire - close to Chester and less than 10 miles from the Welsh border.

Organisers told BBC Manchester they "completely fell in love" with the venue when seeking out a suitable location for the festival, to be held on 30 May.

"The response to this event has been far greater than we ever expected," event organisers said, explaining their choice.

"When we discovered this incredible castle - a location that has never hosted a similar festival like this before - we completely fell in love with it."

They insist the castle will allow them the "opportunity to create a truly unique experience and elevate the show to the next level for everyone attending".

But for some festival-goers, the choice of location was not welcomed - with ticket-holders taking to social media to make jibes about the distance of the venue from its namesake city.

"Where's the Ibiza one? Gran Canaria?" one Instagram-user joked.

Another said: "This was sold to ticket-holders as a Manchester city centre festival.A major venue relocation like this constitutes a significant change to what was advertised, meaning customers should have the option of a full refund if they no longer wish to attend."

In recognition of the unexpected travel implications for some of those attending the festival, the organisers have arranged coaches - which, they said, would run "from the Manchester area, bringing guests to and from the venue... to make the journey easier".

But, despite those efforts, the subsequent backlash over the far-flung location has led organisers to offer refunds to those customers who "prefer not to attend due to increased travel distance".

The "refund window" will be open until 20 March, according to No Art.

"We fully understand and respect the feedback from ticket-holders following this announcement," the organisers said.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this change may have caused.

Previous editions of the No Art festival have been held in Barcelona, Miami and Rio de Janeiro.

The line-up at Bolesworth Castle is expectd to feature Marco Carola and No Art regulars Toman, Benja and Silvie Loto, alongside the Dutch founders ANOTR and a host of new artists.

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