Festival boss 'praying' for end to US-Iran war

The organiser of a music festival has said he is "praying" for an end to the US and Israel's war on Iran due to the impact on the price of diesel.

Lee Martin, who runs Lakefest in Herefordshire, said the event spent £24,000 on the fuel in 2025 and was expecting the figure to be a lot more this year because of the conflict.

According to the RAC, the average price of diesel in the UK surged as high as £1.86 per litre in May due to the war slowing production and transportation across the Middle East.

Martin told BBC Hereford and Worcester he was expecting there to be a "major, major increase" in expenditure when the festival took place at Eastnor Castle from 5 to 9 August.

"I'm praying that Iran and the US can sort out their differences prior to our event so the prices can come down," he said.

Due to a lot of festivals being held in rural areas away from electrical infrastructure, many organisers rely on diesel generators to provide enough power for the event.

Martin said there would also be a knock-on effect on transportation costs, due to most larger vehicles using diesel.

"The whole thing is one big cycle of expense and it's very difficult," he added.

The cost of booking bands had also increased "ridiculously", Martin said, with £700,000 spent on booking the "main chunk" of bands on the two biggest stages.

The four festival headliners include The Charlatans, Example, Madness and Bananarama.

In total, there would be more than 300 acts performing on 12 stages across the four days, Martin said.

He said ticket sales had been disappointing so far and he put it down to people continuing to struggle with the rising cost of living.

"It's a serious amount of money and a serious amount of risk," Martin said.

"It's a double-edged sword because people don't have money to buy tickets and I totally get that because they need to survive, live and feed their kids."

But he remained optimistic about the festival and convinced more people would purchase tickets closer to the event, but said it was not good for his blood pressure.

"We're in it for the fun and it adds to the excitement of the whole thing," he added.

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