Music Festivals is hit by ticket sales drag

Vince Power's Music Festivals group yesterday warned that economic woes are hitting sales at its Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent and its Benicassim event in Spain.

Mr Power said tickets for Hop Farm, which takes place at the end of June and features Bob Dylan, left, as the headline act, "are currently slower than last year".

Benicassim, which is held in mid-July, is also suffering from flagging ticket sales, despite announcing some big-name acts including Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and New Order.

"The festivals market in general has been affected by the continued depressed economic climate and the availability of strong revenue-generating acts," said the AIM-listed company, which is now looking to cut costs.

Shares in Music Festivals tumbled 3.5p to a record low of 42.5p. They have crashed more than 30 per cent since their 65p debut last June.

Mr Power used to run the Mean Fiddler empire of London concert venues and then the Vince Power Music Group, which collapsed into administration in 2010.

His new company made a pre-tax profit of £796,000 on sales of £13m last year.