STORM OVER TICKETS FOR FESTIVAL FIREWORKS
WEXFORD REACTED ANGRILY TO NEWS THAT THURSDAY’S FIREWORKS NIGHT ON THE QUAYFRONT WOULD BE TICKET-ONLY, WITH THE DISTRIBUTION OF 5,000 FREE TICKETS. REPORTS ON THE FALLOUT
THE decision to set a 5,000 limit on the quayfront crowd at Thursday’s opening night speeches and fireworks display, as revealed on the front of of last week’s Wexford People, is surely an own-goal forced on those at the heart of the festival decision-making.
The festival is all about celebration and is the culmination of thousands of hours or work by the performers, selfless volunteers, and those charged with bringing to life one of the best events of its kind in Ireland.
However, what should be a night of celebration for the town, a night connecting townspeople with a festival celebrating its 66th anniversary has been soured for many local people following the decision to limit numbers and impose tickets only access to the immmediate quay front, a decision first made public by this newspaper last Tuesday.
‘It’s true that no licence was issued,’ the county council’s communications manager David Minogue told this newspaper when asked about the 5,000 ticket limit for admission to the traditional quayfront viewing area next to the stage.
‘As this particular event is expected to realise an audience of less than 5000, an event licence is not required, and no such licence application was received by Wexford County Council,’ said Mr Minogue.
‘It was that or nothing,’ former Mayor Cllr George Lawlor quoted a senior official as telling him when he questioned the 5,000-ticket limit.
He said the opening night display was the major interaction with the Festival for many people in the town and districts and setting the limit, while understandable in the circumstances, was not good enough.
‘If someone had put their hands up and said ‘sorry, we made a mistake’ the people would have been much more forgiving. Instead the festival tried to put a gloss on it and that didn’t go down well,’ said Cllr Lawlor.
Mr Minogue said the opening festivities was a Wexford Festival Opera-managed event.
‘Wexford County Council’s role is the consideration and adjudication of any associated event licence in cooperation with the relevant state agencies, and of course we also provide very significant financial, logistical and advisory support to the Festival through the offices of Wexford Borough District,’ he said.
Wexford Mayor Cllr Jim Moore said, ‘my understanding is that the (licence) application was never completed, which is a big disappointment.
‘I attended a presentation two to three years ago in relation to the demands placed on community groups and the level of compliance now expected to meet health and safety standards, so this is not new, but the application was not processed, as far as I am aware,’ said Cllr Moore, who was as surprised as the rest of the councillors when he received an email informing him of the restrictions last Monday night.
‘There are implications with large crowds and health and safety and after 65 years of success, this is very disappointing because of a failure to meet standards,’ he said.
The festival said admittance to the quayfront viewing area, effectively between the railway lines and the seafront, would be restricted to people holding one of 5,000 free tickets be- ing issued for this Thursday’s (October 19) opening ‘to keep numbers at a comfortable level’ and urged people to take advantage of other venues outside the town centre.
There are no tickets required for people who want to watch proceedings from the shop-side of the railway line between Wexford Bridge and the Crescent Quay or anywhere else in the town.
It’s understood that stringent conditions were laid out by senior officials at the county council surrounding health and safety at this year’s opening night based on a detailed study of the 2016 event when an estimated 20,000 people flocked to the town and the quays for the largest annual public gathering in Wexford.
With more than 5,000 people expected at the opening night fireworks, a licence would have been required. Below that number and the licence requirement falls away.
Councillors were angry that they hadn’t been briefed at last Monday’s monthly meeting which took place at around the time that the limit on attendance came into the public arena following a statement issued by the Festival press office and a follow-up response to this newspaper denying that a licensing issue was at the heart of the matter.
‘Whatever the reasons given, this is not good enough when councillors are completely kept in the dark and decisions are made by un-elected individuals,’ said Cllr Hynes.
Asked about the issue last week, Festival chairman Ger Lawlor said ‘we’ve been working with the local authority to ensure safety on the opening night on the Quays, which has the railway line on one side and the water on the other.’ Mr Lawlor would not be drawn on the licence issue, but said he was working to ensure that next year’s opening would be bigger and better than this year’s.
Sidestepping the issue of the licence, the Festival press office said that as room had decreased on the Quay over the past years, different options were examined ‘to increase the public’s enjoyment of the annual fireworks event.’
‘People have been (unofficially) opting for these other vantage points. Following discussions with the county council it was agreed to introduce, on a trial basis, these new crowd-friendly arrangements on the quay for this year,’ said Press officer Elizabeth RoseBrowne. ‘We think that people will actually find it more convenient, especially those with children.’
If the social media reaction to the news was anything to go by, the opposite was true, with many people highly critical of the changes.
It’s understood that the switch came about because the opening night organisers were unable to meet stringent national standards being implemented by the county council on several fronts, including the number of stewards who would be required to ‘police’ a crowd of 20,000 people as well as the numbers of ambulances that would have to be in place before the event could take place.
Despite several rounds of talks with council officials and early warnings that 16 weeks’ would be required for a licence to be issued, no application was submitted within the national regulatory timeframe.
In July, Mark Dunne of CCS Events, a County Waterford-based professional events management company recommended by the county council, was contracted to plan and manage this year’s event, however, by that stage it was too late to make the cut to enable a ‘normal opening night display’.
Mr Dunne could not be reached for comment.
The festival is the landmark event in the Wexford calendar and one that is underpinned by the hard work and commitment of all involved and it’s to say the least unfortunate that this year’s opening night has become mired in controversery about what went wrong and why a licence was not applied for in time.
To quote festival chairman Ger Lawlor: ‘Next year will be better’.