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Bay Festival organisers blame Government

Tue, 17 May 2011

The organisers of the failed Isle of Man Bay Festival are blaming its cancellation on the government.

 

It was announced this morning that the event, run by businessman Jonathon Irving, is being called off because of poor tickets sales.

 

A statement says that the festival was 'undermined from the start' when sister company Street Heritage ended up in court over a tax dispute.

 

The promoter says last year's action by the Manx government was 'unnecessary and aggressive' and caused extensive negative publicity at a crucial time in the planning of the event.

 

The statement says it generated doubt as to whether the festival would go ahead or not and affected people's confidence in it.

 

Organisers also claim that the government departments they approached to assist on matters relating to the planning told them they had a policy of no co-operation towards the festival.

 

However, many people have contacted Energy FM via our Facebook page to say they believe the festival failed because of the acts that had been booked to appear..

 

It was due to feature a mixture of dance, comedy and music acts from a number of different genres and eras.

Organisers of the Elton John concert, due to take place on June 16th, say they will do all they can to make sure the gig still goes ahead.

However the cancellation of Bay Festival does throw up some logistical problems, as they had been due to share a tent

 

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