Photo: wenn.com

The past year has not been a great year for British music festivals. Creamfields flooded, ATP went into administration, and the less said about the Bloc Weekender the better.

A recent YouGov report suggests that there are more dark times on the horizon for 2013, with festival attendance set to continue to decline.

Of those surveyed, less than a fifth of people who have previously attended music festivals said they plan to go to one next year, with 54% saying they definitely won't be festivaling in 2013.

Just under 20% of the respondents cited poor weather and muddy fields as what put them off, and to be fair that's something that organisers couldn't do anything about: 2012 was not a good summer.

Instead of attending a festival next year, 22% said they would take a holiday.

But 37% said it was the over-crowding and queueing that put them off, and there has been a marked increase in crowding and queues at festivals in recent years. This is something very much within organisers control.

While the economic recession might seem an obvious cause of declining festival attendance, a separate report suggests that most gig-goers are undetered by belt-tightening.

The YouGov report on UK gig-goer's habits says that 54% of those asked said the recession has had no effect on their attendance at shows.

That said, a signifcant minority (36%) said they had changed their habits as a result of the recession, with 83% of that minority going to fewer gigs and 38% spending less money and choosing cheaper events.

Taken together, the reports suggest that while UK music fans are continuing to spend money on music shows, the interest in weekend long festivals is waning.

Some people still manage to make the most of the mud at festivals

Commenting on the findings, YouGov's Research Director James McCoy said: "Our study suggests there is declining interest in attending music festivals that tend to span more than one day.

"In contrast, our research indicates that a majority of those who attend live music concerts are not put off by the recession.

"This could be down to the simple fact that a single gig is much less of a commitment, both in terms of time and money, than going to a festival."

This might suggest that the future will see more day festivals like London's Field Day, or city based festivals like the Hackney Weekender and Eastern Electrics, which is just outside London and allows Londoners the option of going home at the end of each day.

Photos: the muddiest, messiest festival goers of Download 2012