Plans to stage a live music festival for up to 7,500 fans have been scuppered by a killjoy minister. The Guernsey Live equivalent to Jersey’s top event was thrown out by Culture and Leisure - in favour of a handful of cricketers.
Jersey Live organiser Warren Holt said yesterday that an approach to hold an event in May on land in Victoria Avenue had been denied by Culture and Leisure.
Mr Holt said that the event would be as big - if not bigger - than anything that had ever been held in Jersey, and that Guernsey’s headliner would be more prominent than even last year’s Manchester band Kasabian.
More than 6,000 people from across the islands and the UK visited Jersey’s Royal Showground in Trinity to experience the best in live music.
‘Sadly the situation has got so political,’ said Mr Holt. ‘Culture and Leisure should be supporting the event.’
But department minister Peter Sirett said that the department’s allegiance was to the people who used the Victoria Avenue facilities on a regular basis.
‘We have to look after our prime users,’ said Deputy Sirett.
‘I am sure there will be a lot of young people upset that they can’t use their cricket pitch, too, if it was used for a festival.
‘We have to fight very hard to get sporting facilities in Guernsey and we employ people to look at the risk of what is not acceptable.
‘Our mandate is to look after the facilities that we have got. We’ve got to strike a delicate balance between the masses and the regular users of the pitches.’
But Mr Holt said that following last year’s Jersey event, the organisers did not receive one telephone complaint about noise or the state of the land.
And he said that unlike other venues the organisers had considered in Guernsey, which were not deemed suitable due to lack of lighting and restricted access, the Victoria Avenue grounds were ideally situated, being only one mile away from Town.
‘An incredible amount of money would be invested, including temporary surfacing to ensure that the ground was not damaged beyond repair,’ said Mr Holt.
‘Paramount to us is people’s safety. It’s the people who pay our wages, after all.’
The time of year would be perfect for the event, said Mr Holt, as it would take place just before the main festival season began.
‘I feel like we’ve really been messed around,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to ask, ﾓwill an event like this ever happen in Guernsey?ﾔ. ‘
And the notion that a music event would be to the detriment of local sport was quickly rebutted by Guernsey Cricket Association chairman Mark Latter.
‘I would be over the moon to see a live music event come to Guernsey,’ he said.
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