The National Audit Office is to look into why the Unboxed: Creativity in the UK Festival, which opened in March, has attracted less than 1% of projected visitor numbers at a cost to the public purse of £120m.

NAO to examine £120m Unboxed project after MPs call it an ‘irresponsible use of public money’.

The boss of a new £120 million national festival planned for 2022 has claimed he will “bring the nation together” with “joy, hope and happiness”.