After the easing of coronavirus, restrictions were delayed by a month The Association of Independent Festival (AIF) has called for an urgent intervention from the UK government for festivals.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the date of June 21, in which all coronavirus restrictions would be lifted in England, will now be delayed until July 19 on Monday.

In a press conference, Boris told that they had seen more infection and more hospitalization of late, with the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreading faster than the third wave that was predicted when the roadmap was first drawn up back in February.

He said that there was a “real possibility that the virus would outrun the vaccine” and cause “thousands of more deaths” unless the country waited longer to meet all four steps for the final stage of reopening.

Research showed that it had gathered showed that 26 percent of all UK festivals over 5,000 capacity had announced that they would not be able to go ahead this year.

It was thought that organizers were reluctant to shell out huge sums for festivals without COVID insurance as they ran the risk of financial ruin if the roadmap out of lockdown was delayed and prevented events from taking place.

Now that the re-opening of the country has been delayed, the AIF has said that without government help most of the UK’s remaining 2021 festivals are likely to be canceled.

In the event of mass cancellations, UK festivals will require a swift and comprehensive rescue package and targeted contingency fund that can be accessed from July 2021 to save businesses and ensure they can survive until the 2022 sales cycle.