Let’s celebrate the fantastic festival entertainment despite our disappointment, say city leaders

Aug 10 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOLS 2007 Mathew Street Festival has been cancelled for health and safety reasons.

CITY leaders last night were unanimous in expressing their disappointment that the Mathew Street Festival will not be the one that people have come to love.

But they insisted it was essential that the most was made of the situation and everyone had a good time.

Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said: “Mathew Street was always about live music, and there have always been stages indoor.

“It was about celebrating the memory of the Beatles.”

He said the city’s reputation had been dented short term, but insisted it would bounce back.

He said the festival would be divided into five zones: Hope Street, Concert Sq/Rope Walks, Albert Dock, Mathew Street, and the Carling Academy.

Professor Drummond Bone, chairman of the Culture Company, said: “By moving the acts indoors, people will still be able to enjoy the fantastic entertainment that the Mathew Street Festival is famous for in safety.”

One of the founders of the festival, Bill Heckle, of Cavern City Tours and a director of the Liverpool Mathew Street Music Festival Ltd, said: ‘’The feel of the event will echo earlier Mathew Street festivals, which some people prefer.

“There will be dozens of bars and restaurants staging live music events and we implore stakeholders, who perhaps have not hosted live music in their bars during the festival before, to now find a way of providing such entertainment to satisfy the huge demand.”

Liverpool Riverside MP, Louise Ellman, who also sits on the Culture Company board, said: “It appears that this was the only way for it to go forward.”

A spokesman for Merseyside Police said: “Merseyside police shares the disappointment of the people of Liverpool that the Mathew Street Festival will not go ahead as planned, despite all our efforts.

“Despite the removal of the outdoor stages there will be no reduction in size of the policing operation.”