Steven Cartwright, who sits on the Bailiff’s public entertainment panel, said that due to the effects of Covid-19, events organisers have been told that nothing will take place before July.
And while this may change, dependant on the lowering of case numbers and the easing of social distancing restrictions by the government, Mr Cartwright said the likelihood is there are not going to be any major events until summer.
The majority of large-scale events were cancelled last summer due to restrictions which prevented more than 40 people from gathering at once, while Jersey Boat Show organisers have already cancelled the 2021 event which had been due to be held in May.
Mr Cartwright said he has written to the government to ask for direction on when they can expect restrictions to be eased, so they don’t keep event organisers ‘in the dark’.
‘We have told organisers that nothing will be looked at before July, but to continue with their planning process and reach out to all the relevant bodies as normal.’
He added: ‘We have told them to be mindful of Covid mitigation. They will need to be flexible and have contingencies in place as things could change.’
Meanwhile, Danny Scaife, head of the Comité des Chefs de Police, said the honorary police will not support events until July.
‘We play an important role in assisting large-scale events but we cannot support them due to the ongoing Covid-19 climate and do not want to put officers at risk. It is a moving beast though, so who knows what will happen, if the government ease restrictions before July then things could change.’
JP Anquetil, who runs the Wonky Town Festival, said he has numerous contingency plans to allow the festival to be flexible.
‘We are scheduled to run the event in July, but we have been proactive and put lots of plans in place to allow us to move the date, scale down to meet restrictions or whatever is needed for it to go ahead,’ he said. ‘We are grateful for the consistent feedback from the Bailiff’s Panel which allows us to relay information back to ticket holders and gives us confidence that some form of event will go ahead this summer.’
Rob Ritchie, owner of Stage 2 Productions, said he was not surprised that events are on hold until July, but holds hope they can put events on towards the end of the summer.
‘It all depends on how many people are vaccinated and whether the distancing restrictions are eased, but the fact the panel are already having this discussion gives us hope we can get back to work and celebrate at the end of the summer.’
Having not been able to operate in any meaningful manner for almost a year, Mr Ritchie said the latest advice highlighted once again the need for specific financial support for the events industry.
‘We have been calling for specific support for a while and we still don’t have it. By the time we reach July it will be upwards of 15 months since we could operate and if we do not get accessible, fit-for-purpose support then there will be no companies left to put on events at the end of summer.’
