Richard Ashcroft pulls out of Tramlines Festival due to being part of government test

Richard has pulled out of Tramlines (Picture: Getty Images)

Richard Ashcroft has pulled out of Tramlines Festival after he discovered the event will form part of the government’s Events Research Programme (ERP).

The singer was originally scheduled to headline the music event, which will be held later this month at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Park.

Festival organisers confirmed last week that a full capacity crowd, without masks or social distancing, will be allowed as part of ongoing research into the return of live music.

Other shows have also taken place under the ERP, including the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena, to investigate the safety of larger crowds after many widescale events were cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, Richard has since announced his intention to withdraw from Tramlines as he does not want to ‘play concerts with restrictions.’

Taking to Instagram, he shared a screenshot of a news article with a headline which read: ‘Tramlines Festival 2021 WILL go ahead as part of Government test programme.’

The 49-year-old wrote: ‘Apologies to my fans for any disappointment but the festival was informed over 10 days ago that I wouldn’t be playing once it had become part of a government testing programme.

Richard was originally scheduled to headline the music event alongside The Streets and Royal Blood (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I had informed my agent months ago I wouldn’t be playing concerts with restrictions. The status of the festival was one thing when I signed up for it, but, sadly was forced to become something else.’

He added: ‘It must be an age thing but the words Government and Experiment and Festival’, alongside crying with laughter emoji and the hashtags ‘#naturalrebel’ and ‘#theydontownme’.

Some fans did question Richard’s statement, suggesting that although the festival is part of the testing programme, the crowd will not be required to socially distance, meaning there are no restrictions at play.

‘Is the test part not that they will no restrictions to see how it goes?’ one asked in the comments.

Another confused follower added: ‘I’m intrigued as to whether there’s actually any logic to cancelling the set? Or is it literally just because they used the words “government experiment”…’

A full capacity crowd is expected to attend Tramlines as part of government research (Picture: WireImage)

While others applauded Richard for his decision, with one cheerily saying: ‘True legend RA, standing up for what you believe in and not selling out.’

And another even suggested that fans should organise their own festival to mark the end of Covid restrictions.

‘Just have to organise our own Freedom festival,’ they wrote. ‘RA and Ian Brown to headline.’

More: Richard Ashcroft

Other acts who are still set to perform at Tramlines include The Streets and Royal Blood.

Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for Tramlines Festival for further comment.

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