Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 May 2010 07:08:24
It's been interesting to see how Virtual Festivals has grown as a site. They are now probably the best place to get a heads up on the vast range of festival activities that exist. Although a quick trip to the search engine reveals that they don't yet have Solas on there. Solas is where I've decided to head up to for a couple of days for my summer holiday whilst Third Party is at Glastonbury.
One of the major problems for festivals though as the cancellation of Strawberry Fair, (which I've blogged about before), highlights is the increasing demands of the police at licencing hearings. The latest victim of this backdoor repression is Glade which has been forced to cancel because the costs would have been too high for it. The statement they produced last week includes a depressing familiar section:
"At our new venue, Matterley Bowl, there has actually been some amazing support from the local council who’s officers recognize the professional and co-operative way we run the event and the contribution to the local area and the country’s cultural diversity. They have worked with us to ensure the Glade is a safe and enjoyable event and openly recognize that we have one of the best event management teams in the country to do this.
However this year the requirements imposed upon us for policing, security and stewarding have been greatly increased. To make matters worse the reluctance of the police to negotiate in advance and deliberately delay any dialogue with us has resulted in our being unable to tie down a final costing for the event. This, along with unexpected legal fees associated with a last minute license review, has radically increased the cost of the festival."
So yet again the story is a supportive local council, but the police using delaying tactics and imposing unexpected legal costs. They are using the system to repress an authentic culture which is legitimate and trying to turn it into something which is the preserve of the middle classes who have the money to buy the experience at a higher cost.
The good news for people planning to go to Glade is lots of other festivals have stepped in an according to virtual festivals the following have stepped in to offer an alternative to people who've got tickets:
Lounge on the Farm
- Lovebox Weekender
- Global Gathering
- Sunrise Celebration
- Big Chill
- Standon Calling
- Beachbreak Live
In terms of Strawberry Fair and the Raspberry Fair alternative that has been muted this article in The Cambridge News sums it up. The police cancel events and then end up giving the council tax payers the cost of dealing with the people who go anyway and the police are able to discredit the original event when the organisers of it had nothing to do with the alternative.
There are small community festivals seeking to compromise though. Ironically in Ipswich where they had compromised to keep the ethos by abandoning the second stage for May Day, it was the weather not the restrictions that forced them to cancel for the first time in over 30 years.