by Steven Kline Contributor | Photos by Kevin Pick

Hope And Glory Festival cancelled amid 'dangerous' scenes of 'chaos'

Ticketholders were told 'no festival today' on the second day of the event plagued by queues, delays and overcrowding

 

hope-glory-festival-cancelled-dangrous-chaos-james Photo: Kevin Pick

Hope And Glory Festival became the latest in a string of summer catastrophes this weekend (August 5-6) when its second day was cancelled just hours before the gates were due to open.

After a first day plagued with delays and overcrowding issues described by festivalgoers as “dangerous” and “shambolic”, promoters announced the cancellation of the second day of the 12,500 capacity event via Twitter, posting “following the unfair and vitriolic comments, some of us have decided not to proceed” and “no festival today”.

Ninety-minute queues to enter the overcrowded site at St George’s Quarter in Liverpool on Saturday and two-hour delays to stage times saw Charlotte Church pulled from the main stage bill and The Membranes’ set was cut short. Bands including Razorlight, Embrace, the Fratellis and headliners James did play, but after their set James singer Tim Booth Tweeted “Sorry everyone was messed around so badly. Hope you managed to find some pleasure amongst the chaos”. 

At the start of the day, police were called in to help the stewards open the site, and eye-witnesses claimed that security were allowing people into the site without properly checking tickets. Inside there were hour-long queues for drinks and ticket-holders were “caged in” to areas unsuitable to hold the numbers admitted. Toilet queues caused bottlenecks at critical thoroughfares and some ticketholders felt unsafe – Cogiebear tweeted “@RadioCity967 can you see us in at the hope and glory festival from your tower. We are basically trapped. So dangerous.”

The cancellation of day two, which was set to feature Ocean Colour Scene, Tom Chaplin and Hacienda Classical, left bands scrambling to find alternative venues to play in the city. The Lightning Seeds and Clean Cut Kid organised a last-minute gig at the Zanzibar and Charlotte Church arranged a performance of her Pop Dungeon show at the Liquidation club night.

Meanwhile, the promoters faced a storm of criticism as they posted the personal email of the production manager they blamed for the problems on their Facebook page. The official Twitter page complained of “threats of physical violence” and swaped jibes with Tim Booth of James on Monday, while promising refunds and a full statement at noon.

Steven Kline

Contributor

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