A festival to celebrate the shutdown of the Groningen gas field has been postponed – because organisers missed a deadline to obtain an events licence.

The provincial government had planned a “day of solidarity” to mark the first year in which no natural gas has been pumped from the Groningen gas field since 1959.

Since April this year it has been illegal to exploit the main gas field, although 17 smaller fields will continue to produce gas until 2035.

The event was due to be held on October 5 – the official start of the “gas year”, when drilling begins for the winter. Local artists, writers, performers and sporting stars had been invited to take part, including a 200-strong choir.

But organisers were forced to pull the plug on the celebrations, which cost a total of €1 million, after they failed to complete the paperwork for a permit in time to set up the location and inform local residents.

Susan Top, the executive member of the provincial government for gas decommissioning, said it was a “huge shame” that the event had had to be shelved.

Organisers now hope it will be able to go ahead in the spring of 2025. “We have an impressive programme waiting in the wings and we now have more preparation time to flesh it out further,” Top said.

The Dutch government agreed in 2018 to phase out gas production in Groningen, which had been a lucrative revenue stream for 60 years, because of the impact of earthquakes which have damaged tens of thousands of buildings.

The state earned some €360 billion in revenue from the exploitation of the gas field since 1963, but around 85,000 buildings have been damaged at least once. Earlier this year the government pledged to invest €22 billion over the next 30 years in compensation measures.