Band leader disappointed over 'small' festival fee

A musician has said he is disappointed at being offered only a "very small fee" and not being booked for a Coventry festival.

Fareed Siddiqui, manager of Impact Steel Band, said he was approached by Coventry City Council to perform on two days at the Godiva Festival, but after sending over the band's rates and receiving a smaller offer, the band was dropped completely.

"The fee that they were offering was paltry," he said. It was a very, very small fee - but they wanted my full band… the whole shebang."

The council said it regularly liaised with more artists than it booked as availability and scheduling conflicts were common, adding supporting local talent was a key priority.

The authority added while performers' costs "can be one of the many elements in planning, in this particular case, the artist was unable to perform at the time slot available, which unfortunately meant we couldn't include them in the final line-up".

However, Mr Siddiqui said the band, which features 10 to 12 musicians, was available for both days.

Staged in Coventry's War Memorial Park the festival runs from 4 to 6 July.

In March the authority announced ticket prices for 2025 would be frozen, and earlier this year injected £330,000 into the event to cover a shortfall for this year's show.

He said it was a lot to expect local artists to just be "grateful and happy that we are offering you a slot in such a big event".

"You want to just get a fair pay," he said.

He added the musicians recently played in the Caribbean and performed "all over the country at very high-profile events".

The band had played at the festival years before, when it was a free event, said Mr Siddiqui.

"We love the Godiva, we would love to perform in our home town, it's our city and we're super proud of being in our city," said Mr Siddiqui.

The council added decisions were made based on a number of factors, including availability, how an act fits into the programme and logistical considerations.

"We continue to value and support the city's local talent and look forward to seeing that in action at this year's festival," it added.

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