The Good Vibrations Festival and Wonky Town Festival are both scheduled for the weekend of 17 July – just two days after the government plans to enter the final stage of its reconnection roadmap.
While the organisers of the Good Vibrations Festival say they plan to go ahead ‘in whatever capacity allowed’, those behind Wonky Town say they have not decided whether to proceed.
Last week, the government announced that the final stage of reconnection – which would allow stand-up drinking, large-scale events and festivals and unlimited numbers gathering in private homes and gardens – would be delayed until 15 July.
The restrictions were originally due to be lifted on 14 June but were then delayed until 21 June before being pushed back further to 5 July and now 15 July.
The Good Vibrations Festival – which features a 1980s-themed surf contest, live bands and DJs, beach five-a-side football, mental-health workshops and an evening event at the Watersplash nightclub – was originally scheduled to take place on 19 June but was moved to 17 July after the final stage of reconnection was delayed.
Organiser Jake Powell said it was now ‘all or nothing’ for him.
‘I’ve gone full circle thinking about it and I’ve decided to press ahead with the event and, until I hear otherwise, I am going to give it a go. There is still a lot of uncertainty but I am hoping and praying that this will be the final delay to the easing of restrictions. You have to try to be optimistic,’ he said.
‘Everyone is due a good day out and something to look forward to and hopefully we can give people what they deserve after so many setbacks.’
Mr Powell said that everything was in place and ‘ready to go’, including hand-sanitising stations and a track-and-trace system if required.
He added: ‘Even if we cannot run the nightclub event, I would still consider running the day-time stuff, even though I would have to take a significant loss, as people deserve a good time.’
JP Anquetil, organiser of the Wonky Town Festival, said he was yet to decide whether to run the event on 17 and 18 July. He said that he expected to make a final decision on Monday.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Lawson, chief executive of The Liberation Group, said he was ‘hopeful but not confident’ that the final set of restrictions, in particular stand-up drinking, would be eased on 15 July.
‘It is really important and it would be helpful if restrictions were eased as soon as possible so we could get a summer of trading. However, the government must be accountable for its decisions and, once that final stage is introduced, it should be irreversible and not for a short-term fix. Businesses cannot afford to go one step forward and two steps back,’ he said.
‘We have broken the link between the number of active Covid cases and hospitalisations and, with the progress of our vaccine programme, you would hope we could get back to normal as soon as possible.’
