Covid lockdown: Festival organiser asks Wales first minister for roadmap

A festival organiser came face-to-face with the first minister to ask him why there was no roadmap out of lockdown for events in Wales.

Sam Foulkes, managing director of Wrexham's Rock the Park, is waiting to find out if his three-day music festival can go ahead in August.

He approached Mark Drakeford during UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's visit to the north Wales town on Monday.

Mr Drakeford said there would be a scheme of pilot events.

The Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru said businesses needed clarity, although the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: "It would be foolish for anyone to assume things can go back to normal just yet."

After rescheduling last year's event, the festival has sold out for this August, with 30,000 people snapping up tickets but it remains to be confirmed if it will go ahead.

Mr Foulkes said his business had not been eligible for government funding as he and other staff had taken on part-time work to pay the bills.

And now he is unsure whether to risk the substantial costs of booking artists, staff, hotels and transport, only for it to be cancelled at the last minute.

He said the events industry had been "forgotten", with a focus on reopening pubs, bars and restaurants.

"The events industry has just not been mentioned. Everything seems to be focused on bars and clubs... they was no mention of the events industry at all. I felt, as a managing director, I just needed to go up there and just ask them face-to-face," he said.

"I said 'all I need is 30 seconds and just 10 quick questions to ask, this could potentially save my business'. It was important to me to get those questions across to them."

The first minister agreed to a short discussion with Mr Foulkes and was asked why Wales does not have a roadmap for events as in other UK nations.

In Scotland and England, indoor and outdoor events are set to resume from 17 May with restrictions. In Northern Ireland, some outdoor performances will be allowed from Friday, but there is not yet a plan for music venues or large outdoor concerts.

"At least they've got an idea of when things can happen and on the scale things can happen," said Mr Foulkes.

"We understand they're not set in stone, and no one can give solid assurances, but I said to Mr Drakeford 'we've not received anything from you at all'.

He added that Mr Drakeford informed him about scheduled pilot events which would inform future plans.

"That would give them the information then to say how events will be able to happen and when," said Mr Foulkes.

But he added: "It didn't explain enough, it didn't give us that reassurance, we're still no better off really. Do we plan ahead and spend this money now and go ahead and do this festival?

"It's a lot of money to put upfront, we've got stages to pay for, marquees, land hire, the artists themselves, hotels for the artists, transport, there's a lot of stuff that needs booking now and we're just on that edge now where we need to go ahead and book these things. It might not go ahead and we might lose it all."

With the vaccination rollout gathering pace, Mr Foulkes said he could not understand why the Welsh government could not give more certainty.

"We can understand the safety precautions and why they're being cautious, but all adults are going to be vaccinated by the end of July. What more can people do after that? Surely restrictions should be lifted after that?"

Speaking during his visit to Wrexham on Thursday, Mr Drakeford said: "I'm afraid from here 'til August is a very long time indeed in the history of coronavirus.

"If we can create the conditions in which it is safe to have festivals reopening in Wales, then of course that is what we want to do. But public safety has to come first".

As the events industry - and festivalgoers - wait anxiously for the green light to "get out there, doing what we love to do", Mr Foulkes said there seemed no doubt as to how people would feel once it was deemed safe to welcome back the crowds again.

"Everybody would be ecstatic I'm sure. We want to go ahead if we can safely, for the safety of our staff and our customers. I think everyone would be over the moon," he said.

"Can you imagine, after all that social distancing, thousands of people shoulder-to-shoulder, all enjoying a few beers and the music? The scenes would just be incredible wouldn't they?"

A Welsh Conservative spokesman said: "Labour have had ample opportunity to provide a detailed roadmap out of lockdown but have chosen to play politics, which is putting Welsh jobs and business at risk.

"The Welsh Conservatives have announced a detailed roadmap out of lockdown that will cut the confusion and end the political games, and get families, workers and businesses across Wales on the road to recovery."

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: "The very least this government can do is to offer clarity to organisers.

"Given the trajectory of the vaccine roll out and the progress made and that some venues have been given the go ahead to start taking bookings for the autumn, there's nothing stopping the Labour government from publishing an events roadmap for Wales and guidance for open-air events to indicate whether they can go ahead or not.

"Too often, we have been in situations where businesses often don't know until the last minute if they're going to be able to open.

"The balance between providing hope and raising false expectations is a fine line, but the uncertainty and lack of ability to forward plan even by a few weeks is making this more challenging for the public, for businesses and organisers alike."

A Welsh Liberal Democrats spokesperson said: "Like many people the Welsh Lib Dems want to see people back out at events and sporting matches and with the continued success of the vaccine rollout that day is coming ever closer.

"We would welcome any safe and sensible moves to trail events in limited circumstances and would call on the government to work constructively with the events industry to discuss how this can happen and over what timescale.

"We must remember however it would be foolish for anyone to assume things can go back to normal just yet."