Moonfest cancelled (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Moonfest cancelled

8:36am Thursday 21st August 2008

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Organisers of this year's Moonfest have cancelled the entire event after magistrates ruled rocker Pete Doherty could not headline the festival.

The news comes after police won a court order at Chippenham Magistrates Court on Monday to stop the opening night festivities in Westbury on August 29.

"Public safety is paramount."

Superintendent Paul Williams

Moonfest organisers have reacted angrily to the decision in a statement on their website.

It said: "With Pete and Babyshambles being our headlining act for the weekend, this draconian action taken by the police makes it impossible to run the event at the end of August.

"To say we are surprised and devastated would be an understatement."

Organisers are currently contacting people involved in the festival and will shortly begin contacting people who have purchased tickets.

There is no news as to whether all ticket holders will be refunded.

However, in a statement Wiltshire police defended their decision to have Doherty banned.

It read: "Wiltshire Police have a duty to undertake detailed risk assessments of public events to ensure the safety of the public.

"This is a duty which is taken very seriously and the safety of those attending and in the vicinity of such an event cannot be compromised."

It continued: "Preparation for such events is an ongoing process and when we became aware of fundamental changes since the licence was granted, coupled with intelligence received regarding disorder at a recent gig at the Royal Albert Hall involving Pete Doherty and the likely profile of his fans, we became seriously concerned for public safety.

"Many attempts were made seeking additional measures to minimise the risk but the organisers have not made arrangements which satisfied our concerns.

"Officers had serious reservations surrounding the amount of accredited security available in relation to the number of people attending the event, the organisational structure, levels of qualifications, training and relevant experience of the organisers and their team, for an event of the proposed size which could pose a serious risk to public safety.

"The event was licensed for 5,000 people. It had initially been indicated that the event would not be aimed at children but subsequent advertising and specifically targeted activities have highlighted that children were actually being encouraged to attend."

Superintendent Paul Williams added: "We are not kill joys and we help organisers with many events throughout the year and some are much larger than this one.

"Our response to the organisation of such events is fair across the board.

"It is unfortunate that the safety issues could not be resolved in this case for one of the three days but our duty is to protect the public.

"All the circumstances were considered by the magistrates who have based their decision on the facts presented before them.

"Public safety is paramount."

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