After North Wiltshire Festival organiser Steve Cox walked out, reporter SARAH SINGLETON spoke to North Wiltshire District Council about whether or not they can keep it alive

THE future of North Wiltshire Festival 2004 is under threat after project leader Steve Cox quit the helm on Friday with just four months to go until the £100,000 event.

Mr Cox, 52, was appointed to take the reins and revitalise the three-day celebration of business, leisure and community in North Wiltshire, planned for July 16-18, after the 2002 event was criticised by local traders for being badly organised and failing to attract enough people.

Now this year's event is in jeopardy and North Wiltshire District Council has to decide whether it can keep the festival alive.

Coun Ross Henning, lead member for the festival, was confident the festival would go ahead but confirmed its organisation would be taken over by council officers. He hopes Abba tribute band Bjorn Again will headline on the Saturday night.

"We have the expertise," he said.

The first bi-annual festival was in 1996 in the Olympiad, initiated by Laurie Bell, and served as a popular business event. In 1998 the festival moved to Monkton Park. Over the years the emphasis has shifted to create a community and leisure event as well reflected in a decision to change the days from ThursdaySaturday to FridaySunday.

North Wiltshire Festival 2000 was a huge success drawing an estimated 120,000 people with free concerts in the park on both nights, and a headline performance from the Drifters.

In 2002 Michael Paul-Williams, who had a degree in event management, was brought in to organise the festival. He booked soul legend Edwin Starr for the Saturday night concert, attracting around 15,000 people.

But traders complained few people attended during the day, and visitors grumbled there was not enough to do. Traders were also concerned about the security and organisation.

An estimated 100,000 people attended over the three days but Mr Paul-Williams agreed things should be handled differently next time.

The district council relies on sponsorship and the sale of exhibition space to cover the costs of the event.

In 2002 the bill came to £92,000. Some £85,000 was raised, leaving a shortfall of around £7,000 to be picked up by the district council.

Last July Mr Cox was taken on by the district council to run the 2004 event and he had plenty of ideas. He faced the twin challenges of attracting business sponsors and creating an event that provided entertainment and attracted plenty of visitors.

His track record included running his own events management and concert promotion company for ten years, which worked with national organisations and major artists, including Paul McCartney and Genesis.

His company produced more than 30 concerts and was responsible for music festivals, business exhibitions and seminars. More recently he co-ordinated the PR for the launch of a Midlands-based radio station.

Mr Cox, from Shropshire, said the 2002 event had areas for improvement and he wanted to make this year's festival more integrated, providing a showcase for the community.

He set out to involve the district's six towns and chose the theme of talent to encompass the festival events.

At a prestigious launch at Hartham Park earlier in the year Mr Cox introduced TalentSpot, Mike O'Brien and David Oliver, who wanted to organise a district-wide talent contest for bands and performers.

He provisionally booked Bjorn Again and worked with the Wessex Association of Chambers of Commerce, to create business events and a business start-up competition, as well as the Chippenham Harriers to create a race for youngsters.

The TalentSpot contest attracted plenty of attention and around 60 bands have signed up to take part in a series of heats around the district, culminating in a performance by the winner at the Saturday night concert.

But problems arose when Group 4, which manages Malmesbury School, one of the venues of the heats, raised concerns about the event and the heat had to be postponed from its original date of February 27-28.

The festival board is chaired by Coun Ross Henning, with members Coun Roy Jackson, Coun John Thomson, strategic manager Laurie Bell, Mr Cox, and Carol Heneghan from principal sponsor Wavin.

Board members grew restless when Mr Cox failed to inform them about progress and on Tuesday last week councillors Jackson and Thomson said they were being kept in the dark, with no meetings for two months.