Mathew Street gigs may switch to park

Nov 16 2006 By Mike Hornby, Liverpool Echo

LIVERPOOL'S Mathew Street festival concerts may be forced to move out of the city centre next year.

When the city celebrates its 800th birthday, building work at the Pier Head will be in the way of one of the event's main stages.

Organisers are considering switching some of the festivities in August to Sefton Park.

It is one of the issues which will be discussed when the city's "party leader", Cllr Mike Storey, meets licensees from all over Liverpool on Monday.

He said: "It is early days but we do want to think about moving some events away from the city centre as the reconstruction continues.

"I'm keeping an open mind about the issue as we gothrough the planning process.

"We are expecting a huge number of visitors in 2007 and then 2008 and the success of the party depends not only on how good the programme is but also the welcome which visitors receive.

"It is no good if people attend a fantastic concert then have a bad experience in a restaurant or fall victim to crime.

"I want to talk about these issues with the traders and I want them to give me their ideas to make the next two years a lasting success."