Vault Festival reports record year but still hangs in balance after eviction
Vault Festival has reported a record-breaking year as it prepares to be turfed out of its decade-long home by its landlord.
The second largest arts festival in the UK after the Edinburgh Fringe welcomed more than 81,000 guests over the eight-week festival, with over 4,000 artists performing in the space beneath Waterloo Station and the surrounding area.
City PM has been campaigning to save the festival, which is seen by actors, directors and audiences as a vital part of the UK’s cultural landscape.
Actors including Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Nicola Coughlan and Jonathan Bailey from Bridgerton were among the names to back our campaign, with Corrin saying Vault is “integral in keeping the fabric of theatre alive.”
In 2021 Corrin led the West End cast of Anna X, a play about the fake Russian heiress Anna Sorokin, but the play actually debuted at the Vault Festival in 2019.
Festival organisers were told they would not be able to host the event next year, with the landlord favouring more commercial work.
“I remember going to Vaults to see people who I really admired who’ve now gone on to do such amazing things, like Jack Rooke, Camilla Whitehill,” Coughlan told City PM “It’s such a breeding ground for talent and a chance for people to try things out and grow and develop their voices.”
Vault co-founder Andy George said: “It’s become extremely clear that the creative industry needs Vault Festival to thrive and the artists we champion need Vault Festival to springboard their careers.
“This devastating blow comes after three of the harshest and hardest years of the festival’s life; but we’re determined to make sure this isn’t the end. We can only survive if we receive support, and I’m asking for your help. Help us make this the end of a chapter, not the end of Vault Festival. Help us save Vault.”