Issue 36 January 2010 £4.75
Group plans for 2010
Promoter in court action over festival By Christina Eccles A PROMOTER is claiming damages and loss of earnings from a local council over the cancellation of a Bob Marley tribute festival, which was expected to attract 15,000 people. Gold National Events – headed by Mike Forrester – is claiming £153,000 plus costs from Manchester City Council, after it pulled the plug on the event over concerns about public order. The festival was due to take place at Platts Field Park in August 2008 and artists confirmed to perform included reggae star Sean Paul and Bob Marley’s son Ky-Mani. But it was cancelled after the council claimed it had been advised by Greater Manchester Police that the event should not go ahead. However, GMP deny this and claim that although they did have concerns, they had not issued instructions to cancel and would have supported the festival. The case went to the High Court in November and was reserved by the judge, with judgement expected later this month. And Mike revealed he would have liked to have resolved the issue ami-
cably, but the council’s reluctance to communicate left him with no choice but to start court proceedings. He said: “The police had allegedly given advice to cancel but when I raised questions with the council, I got nothing back. What gets me is the lack of communication and transparency. They completely ignored me and engaged in no dialogue. The only time we got a response was when they were served a High Court writ.” Mike said he was left ‘absolutely devastated’ by the cancellation of the festival as he was expecting it to be a great event for the whole community. He added that it would have been a family event, which would have given festivalgoers the opportunity to see Sean Paul – a big international star – for a reasonable price of £15 per ticket. He added: “I am very disappointed. As my local council, I would have expected them to give me support. I was trying to do something good for the community.” A Manchester City Council spokesman told The Main Event that as court proceedings are ongoing, the council could not comment at this time.
A GROUP set up to tackle issues faced by local authority event organisers has unveiled ambitious plans for 2010. The Local Authorities Event Organisers Group (LAEOG UK) was formed after a group of neighbouring authorities met to discuss issues they had with fun fairs on council land. It soon expanded to talk about other common issues and grew in membership numbers, meeting twice a year. After consultation with members, LAEOG has now become an independent formally constituted group, chaired by Andy Grove from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. This year, it will be pushing to attract as many members as possible – becoming a voice for local authority event organisers and engaging and consulting with key industry organisations. Committee member Vanessa Mitchell from Bradford City Council said: “I believe its really important for local authorities to join together as there are so many common issues.” A homecoming concert in Reading to welcome back local X Factor star Danyl Johnson included the use of two of the world’s largest plasma screens. The whopping 103” screens flanked Danyl on each side of the stage and showed footage filmed at the event. The screens were sourced by PSCo, which joined forces with Surtees Reading for the event, held at the Penta Hotel. Danyl played a set of his most popular X Factor songs to an assembled audience of VIP guests.
The Main Event is the official magazine of the National Outdoor Events Association