Maidstone River Festival cancelled

One of the county’s most popular and largest free events, Maidstone River Festival, has been cancelled.

In what would have been its 29th year, the event’s voluntary committee have been forced into the cancellation following a new directive that the Police now charge for attending Public Events.

The new regime was announced in October 2007, in line with documentation issued by Association of Chief Police Officers, and comes into effect in April 2008. These charges are substantial and they come on top of the event licence fees quietly introduced by the government just two years ago.

The River Festival Chairman David Knight claims that these new charges ‘are an absolute scandal’ as they make the River Festival, and probably most other local events, unviable as the Police are being forced to charge fees that, in the case of the River Festival, effectively doubles the normal cost of staging the event.

David Knight said: “The River Festival Committee also want to clearly explain that while they are extremely upset at the introduction of these charges, the committee are not holding Kent Police, or any of its Officers, directly responsible for these charges.

“It has been explained to us that, as a result of a Court of Appeal ruling in May 2006, the Police are now obliged to charge every public event across the country, whether it is a commercial event, a community event or a charitable event.

“During all of the negotiations the Police representatives have been very courteous and have been visibly uncomfortable at having to impose these new charges.

“Kent Police seem to be in an invidious situation – they have the authority to ‘abate’ some or all of the associated costs yet they have to be seen to be recouping costs and risk being accused of bankrupting events such as the River Festival in the process.”

In relation to the River Festival the Police have advised that their charges would be in the order of £43,453.94 - a staggering figure that also includes a hefty £6,471.86 VAT.

Mr Knight added: “Being classed as a ‘Community Event’ the River Festival does attract a 50% discount but that is still a crippling £21,726.97 for the organisers to find. Not only is it a huge sum of money to find but the committee are also faced with a huge moral dilemma.

“If the committee did not raise the additional money to meet the Police costs there will be no River Festival. Many local charities and small businesses would suffer as a direct consequence and the town, and thousands of local people, would be deprived of a great annual spectacle of two days of riverside entertainment. If the committee did raise the extra money, should they be putting that money to better use?

“Many people have argued that they already pay for the Police through their council tax and income tax, and feel that the Police should take such ‘free’ public events as the River Festival in their stride.”

Local MP Ann Widdecombe is supporting the River Festival Committee. She commented: “In the past 11 years or so the Maidstone River Festival has been very much a family event enjoyed by all ages.

“The River Festival Committee willingly liaise with all the Emergency Services as a matter of course each year but they have no influence whatsoever on the numbers of police attending each event and are powerless to influence the application of those costs now.”