Festival licence turned down
Organisers hoping to hold an underground music and arts festival near Stratford-upon-Avon have been dealt a blow after the district council refused to grant the event a premises licence.
The Licencing Panel decided not to grant a licence to the organisers of Balter Festival, which had been planning to hold the event on land at Stratford Armouries between 25 June.
Balter Festival, which is strictly for over 18s, has previously been held in South Wales and attracted around 2,000 people last year.
In their application to the council organisers said the layout of the festival, had been designed to cause as little off-site noise as possible, with larger venues making use of acoustic barriers.
However the Licencing Panel said that, given the size and scale of the festival, the applicant had failed to engage with the responsible authorities before submitting their application.
It raised concerns about the safety of those attending the event because of activities shown or said to have taken place at previous festivals or because of illegal drug and excessive alcohol consumption.
The panel also discussed concerns about under 18s purchasing tickets online.
The panel concluded that: “If the Applicants were granted a Licence, they would not promote the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the prevention of public nuisance.”