Band lose festival spot after travelling with baby
Band lose festival spot after travelling with baby
Beth Cruse - West of England Mon, August 3, 2026 at 7:16 PM UTC
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A husband and wife indie rock act say they travelled "hours" with their 11-week-old baby to play a music festival, only to discover they had been dropped from the line-up.
Wings of Desire were due on stage at Valley Fest in Chew Magna, near Bristol, on 31 July, but ended up having to return home without playing after confusion over where their set was taking place.
Chloe Little and James Taylor, from Stroud, in Gloucestershire, said their fans also contacted them to say they could not find them on the website.
Luke Hasell, Valley Fest founder, apologised for the band's experience and said there was a "breakdown in communication around" their set after late changes saw two stages merged.
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The band had been booked to play The Yard Stage by their agent in February, with their name appearing on posters under that stage.
Little said they were told that they had been moved to a different stage the day before the gig, but could not find the new stage on the site map when they arrived.
She said they tried to call the numbers they had been given for the festival, and their agent tried to contact the festival director, but calls went to voicemail.
As well as their baby, Little's mother had also made the trip with them to provide childcare. Little said it took an hour to have it confirmed that they no longer had a spot on the stage.
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"We waited and waited, I've got a little baby that's crying," said Little.
"We didn't end up playing our set, that's never happened to us before."
"We're used to no dressing room, but there was nowhere to go with the baby, and that added to the stress," she added.
Hasell said in a statement: "I was really sorry to hear about Wings of Desire's experience at Valley Fest this weekend.
"Ahead of the festival, we made the decision to merge The Yard Stage with another venue, with artists due to perform there being reprogrammed across the weekend.
"Unfortunately, it appears there was a breakdown in communication around Wings of Desire's performance, which meant they weren't given the information they needed ahead of arriving on site."
Hasell added he was "disappointed" they were not able to find the "right people", adding: "That's not the experience we want any artist to have at Valley Fest, and it certainly isn't how we like to work.
"We'll be reaching out to the band's management to apologise, better understand their experience and make sure this doesn't happen again."
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Valley Fest
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