Reggae fest aims to allay safety fears

The organisers of the inaugural Bath Reggae Festival say they are confident they have overcome serious concerns for public safety.

A hearing due to be held today, just 48 hours before the one-day event is due to take place in Kensington Meadows, will determine if it can go ahead and return every August.

VIP ticket holders have paid up to £143 to meet and greet artists in the line-up including Maxi Priest, Aswad (pictured), Big Mountain and Wayne Wonder, with standard tickets at £45.

But a senior environmental health officer at Bath and North East Somerset Council has highlighted numerous omissions and contradictions in VIP Production Ltd’s application.

In a report to the licensing subcommittee, the officer said: “The lack of event planning and management raises a significant risk to public safety and so I am not in a position to support the application.

“The safest way to safeguard public safety is to not allow the event to proceed in the first place.”

A spokesperson for VIP Production Ltd said the officer’s objection was lodged before it submitted an amended event management plan, adding: “We are confident that we have satisfied the concerns and this will become apparent at the licensing hearing which is scheduled for August 19.

“VIP Production Limited, the event organisers, have made public safety paramount in their planning of the event. The original event management plan was accepted for another event being staged the week before the Bath Reggae Festival by a local authority with no amendments.

“We realise that Bath is a heritage city and we are proud to have met the exacting standards they expect.

“We can assure the festival-goers who are coming to enjoy an afternoon and evening of exceptional reggae music that the event will be perfectly safe.

“We sincerely hope this will be the first Bath Reggae Festival of many and look forward to working with B&NES Council now that we have ironed out the initial problems.”

The festival was originally billed for June 5 and was set to run until 3am.

Organisers posted on Facebook on August 9 that gates will open at 11am and the show will finish at 9.30pm.

They asked people to use sustainable transport and avoid driving to Kensington Meadows but to follow local parking restrictions if they do.

We realise that Bath is a heritage city and we are proud to have met the exacting standards they expect Bath Reggae Festival organisers