Crowds enjoy Sunday’s headline act, The Enemy, at this year’s Guernsey Live. Will the event be a one-off? (0574296)
GUERNSEY Live could still go ahead – if talks between Culture and Leisure and organiser Positiv succeed. Minister Deputy Mike O’Hara, said Culture and Leisure wants to sit down with the company to see if a financial compromise can be made.
Positiv announced earlier this month that it would be pulling out of staging the music festival because of financial concerns and doubts over securing an appropriate venue and time to stage it. It said it was unable to confirm that it would happen.
Deputy O’Hara maintains the view that the States will not be in a position to underwrite the event to the extent Positiv is wanting.
‘We just wouldn’t be able to do that,’ he said, adding that a solution might be found. What we are saying is that we could sit down with them to discuss making a reasonable input to the event.’
In May, the Victoria Avenue event cost in the region of £500,000, with the organiser believed to have suffered a £200,000 loss.
The site had a capacity of 7,500 people, but only about 3,000 and 3,500 turned out on the Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Deputy O’Hara said if the event was to be kept next year, then it had to be better organised. ‘I want to emphasise that we are supportive of it.
‘But we want the organiser to come to us with a date and possible venues as soon as it can and not leave it to the last minute.’
He said information before the end of January would be good.
‘Even if we were given two dates to work towards to suit different headline acts, we would do that.’
However, he said finding a big-money sponsor would perhaps be the biggest stumbling block to salvaging the festival.
‘I think Positiv is already talking to sponsors, but the level of sponsorship it needs is very large.
‘It obviously can’t do it without that.
‘We can go only so far and there’s no way we can go as far as to underwrite it all.
‘The organiser would get 100% support from us for a venue and to set it up but the sticking point would be how much money the company would want from us.’
Article posted on 29th September, 2008 - 2.29pm
2 Article Comments
Timing had to have been a contributing factor to Guernsey Live 2008’s financial losses of £200 000.
The event was held during a weekend within an academic term. This meant that they missed out on every student studying at university or at a boarding school.
Surely if Guernsey Live 2009 were to be held during an academic holiday then they’d be able to attract the event’s target market?
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There is a group on facebook now which is building up to 3500 memebers, alot of people beleive ticket sales were low last year because people were still at uni, if Gsy live 09 was held at a time when people were back from uni, it would make a profit!
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