News Rockers head
for Mote Park SOME of the world’s rock legends will be on their way to Maidstone to play at the first-ever Ramblin’ Man Fair next summer. Fans from across America and Europe are expected to flock to the county town to hear sets from the likes of Marillion, Camel, The Scor- pions and Gregg Allman. Created by The Rock Collective
and sponsored by TeamRock, the gig should appeal to middle-aged rockers and heavy metal fans, al- though it will also include plat- forms for country music and blues. The two-day event, on July 25
and 26, will offer camping facilities as well as luxury accommodation and hospitality packages. Bill Moss, town centre manager
said:“We are expecting huge inter- est from all over the world.” Marillion is the most successful
band to emerge from the United Kingdom’s 1980s neo-progressive rock scene and has sold more than 15 million albums. It was band of the year at the Progressive Music Awards in 2013. Band member Steve Hogarth
said: “Mote Park is just a hop across the Channel, so the Ramblin’ Man Fair is recommended to our Euro- pean fans aswell as the Brits.”
downsmail.co.uk
River festival ‘will go ahead without backing’
MAIDSTONE’S popular river fes- tival will return in summer 2015 – but without formal borough coun- cil backing. Medway River Boaters organised
their own informal “boat gathering” last summer after the town’s official river festival folded through lack of funding. More than 100 boats sailed into town on the lastweekend of July in 2014, with some staying up to 10 days.
Mark Smurthwaite has enthusias-
tic support from councillors Dave Naghi and Gordon Newton,whoare going to help him organise the event on theweekend of July 25-26, 2015. Mr Smurthwaite says a small or- ganising committee has been formed and more details will be announced in the spring but said: “The River Festival will go on, but it will be run totally independently without any involvement of MBC.” At its peak, the festival pulled inup
to 10,000 visitors but the economic climate, together with health and safety issues, mean costs have been rising and administration has be- come more complex.
HAMILTON KITCHENS
Despite a plea from the organiser
for pre-event publicity, Maidstone Council, which aims to save £1m in 2015-16, says it cannot lend its sup- port in 2015. The 2015 event clashes with the Ramblin’ManFair at Mote Park and council leader Annabelle Blackmore says there are insufficient resources – bothwithin the council and the po- lice – to cope with two major events on the same date. Cllr Blackmore said: “The organis-
ers failed to comeupwith a business plan – and you cannot organise this type of event without a plan. “We do not have the resources, in
terms of clean-up costs alone, to cover both these events. Ramblin’ Man will be part of next year’s UK festival calendar. It is expected to at- tract 30,000 festival-goers over the weekend and hotel and guest ac- commodation is booking fast. “Maidstone Council's events and environment enforcement teams will be fully engaged with the organisers to ensure it runs smoothly and with minimumdisruption to the residents of Maidstone.
“The river festival proposers have
not supplied information on how they would steward their event, deal with traffic or safeguard the public on thisweekend or on any other.” Mark Smurthwaite, from Boughton Monchelsea, one of the three main drivers behind the 2014 “gathering” said planswere already well advanced, with a localcompany keen to organise a raft race. The council asked the boaters if
theywouldchange the date and hold the festival on the previousweekend. But Mark said: “It has been held on thatweekend for the past 35 years. “As far as I am concerned, this is
just another excuse. “I’veno ideawhythe council does-
n’t support this event – it brought loads of people into town,whospent loads of money. There are plenty of businesses along the river which stand to benefit and, with a bit of sponsorship, it could be even better.” Maidstone Council says it is look-
ing at ways of promoting events in the town centre – and making greater use of the river as an amenity and attraction.
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