5:57pm Tuesday 18th May 2010
THE Glade music festival has been cancelled by the organisers just days after it secured permission from Winchester licensing chiefs.
The festival organisers blamed tighter restrictions from the police and city council for the surprise announcement on Tuesday.
In a statement on their website, the organisers said: “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 lastminute licence review, has radically increased the cost of the festival.”
Tickets sales were also lower than expected and, fearing a financial loss, the organisers have pulled the plug on the festival, which was due to run on July 15-18.
The festival was due to attract up to 10,000 revellers to the Matterley Bowl by Cheesefoot Head near Winchester, with headlining acts to include Orbital, Tricky and Simian Mobile Disco.
The city licensing committee had met twice recently to discuss the event, including a 10- hour session on April 30 in which it heard evidence from opponents and supporters.
There had been concern after last year’s event about traffic, noise pollution and crime with a reported 70 offences, mostly thefts from tents and cars.
Alison Matthews, chairman of the Upper Itchen Valley Society, said yesterday (Wednesday): “Last year it was too loud and too long. It is unacceptable to keep people awake at night with the bass thumping away.”
But Steve Gapper, chairman of Itchen Valley Parish Council, said he was disappointed.
“As a council we have been working with Glade for six months,” he said.
“They created a community liaison group to work with local parishes to get rid of the problems they had last year.
“We had good meetings and hoped it would go ahead. Other people will be pleased it is not happening.”
He added: “It brings business to the area. It has the ideal venue and was good for the area.”
Landowner Peveril Bruce was unavailable for comment.
He has permission from the city council to hold several large events on his land, including a music festival and motocross. This is the first year since the late 1990s there will be no major outdoor event.
At their height about 10 years ago they attracted more than 30,000 people.
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