This Is Guernsey

GUERNSEY live organisers are not saying how many tickets have been sold for the weekend-long event. But they remain upbeat.

The last report was that 2,000 had been sold two weeks ago. There is a capacity of 7,500 on each of the two days. Organiser Warren Holt said yesterday that sales were good.  ‘People all have one thing in common – they have faith at least one time in their life. The organisers, suppliers, event crew etc. all have faith in the people of Guernsey and we do like to party.’

He said the weather forecast was looking good and he believed there would be a surge of latecomers. ‘Guernsey Live will be one big party,’ said Mr Holt. ‘I guarantee Guernsey Live will be the most exciting and best event in many people’s life. This is the real deal – the bands, DJs, sound, lighting and the LibJam park are going to blow people away.’

Number 19 manager Gary Wearing said it was unlikely that the shop would sell all its 1,000 tickets.

‘Maybe they should have tried a one-day concert,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to put a downer on it because they are doing their best.

‘It is a pity the support isn’t as strong as they would like.’

He said the problem with take-up might be the type of bands playing.

‘They are not all the same exactly, but they are all indie and it might have been better with a wider range.

‘A couple of the guys in the shop won’t be going because there aren’t enough bands playing that they like.’

He would not confirm how many tickets the shop had sold.

‘Even with the Vale Earth Fair, ticket sales tend to dawdle along until the last minute but if people find out the weather is going to be nice there is a surge.’

Hundreds of thousands of pounds-worth of equipment will be installed at Victoria Avenue and staging the event is costing more than £500,000.

Tickets are available from HMV, Number 19 and the Guernsey Information Centre.