Southport Pontins, home of Bang Face Weekender, has closed with immediate effect

Southport Pontins, the home of Bang Face Weekender - as well as a number of other events and festivals - has closed with immediate effect, operator Pontins has confirmed.

The resort is one of three locations that have been shuttered by the company in recent months, including Prestatyn in North Wales and Camber Sands in East Sussex — the location of The Cause's Seaside Beano in 2022.

Southport Pontins was evacuated on New Year's Day due to flooding caused by Storm Henk, Liverpool Echo reported, said to have been caused after the old boating lake burst its banks due to heavy rainfall.

Families staying at the park to celebrate New Year, were evacuated from the site by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service at around 10:45PM on January 1. The resort was then closed temporarily, but its closure was made permanent just 24 hours later, BBC reports.

Read this next: We went to Bangface, the final rave before the world stopped dancing

Alongside Spring/Summer 2024 holidays, the closure has also cast doubt over whether a number of events and festivals scheduled to take place at the Southport park will be able to go ahead.

Bang Face 2024 was due to go ahead from May 2 - 6, 2024 at the Southport site. While the festival has yet to release a full statement on its next plans, they have explained that an “update will be provided” as soon as possible.

The announcement comes just days after Bang Face announced its first wave line-up, which this year includes Hudson Mohawke, Helena Hauff, SHERELLE, and Hamdi. The festival also recently announced that its chalets, where festivalgoers stay during the weekender within the Pontins holiday park, had sold out completely.

“We have been informed today (January 3) by Pontins that Southport Holiday Park will close with immediate effect,” the festival wrote on its Facebook page. “We are looking at how this might affect the 2024 Weekender and will provide an update as soon as possible.”

“As always, our priority is the Bang Face Hard Crew and we thank you all for your amazing support,” they added.

Read this next: Milan's Terraforma Festival will not take place in 2024

Rave Kidz, a family-friendly weekender also due to go ahead on the same site in February, is now attempting to find a new location for the annual festival. Speaking to Metro, the event's manager explained: "We’ve been bombarded with over a thousand emails and messages".

"It was a bit of a shocker and it’s been an absolute nightmare in the new year letting all our DJs and families know what is going on," she said.

In a statement on the Pontins Southport website, the resort company explained that after assessing the future viability of the park, “we have come to the difficult decision to close our doors".

Only three Pontins sites now remain open after closing two of its remaining six in November, and now its Southport site in January. The holiday company once offered 30 destinations across the UK.

Mixmag has contacted representatives for Bang Face for comment.

Keep up to date with news from Bang Face Weekender here.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter