Fab Fest 2021 should go on, Middlewich councillors now say

It comes just two weeks after members cast doubt on Middlewich’s biggest event happening in 2021 and asked clerk Lisa Benskin to prepare a draft budget with the event taken out, with a view to saving costs.

This was the third draft budget for 2021-22, and included a precept rise of five per cent, which councillors are keen to reduce further if possible before making a final decision on the budget.

But following concerns raised by members of the public over Folk and Boat, councillors now say the show should go on.

Cllr Jonathan Parry, chairman of the FAB working group, told the meeting: “With the situation with Covid, certain reasons for cancellation are totally out of our hands and we will have to take the lead off central Government on that.

The vaccination roll-out could be key to FAB Fest being on next year

“If Folk and Boat can go ahead and social distancing is finished by a certain time next year – which I am hopeful of considering the vaccination will get rolled out – then it will go ahead.

“We will keep reviewing it on a month-by-month basis but as far as I am concerned it is the heritage of Middlewich and we have got a duty to do our best to actually make it happen.”

Blaming the Guardian

Cllr Parry added that ‘we have never once said we are planning on cancelling Folk and Boat’ – while Cllr Mike Hunter, chairman of Middlewich Town Council, added ‘we don’t intend to lose FAB’.

Meanwhile, Cllr Dave Latham pointed the finger of blame for residents believing the festival was to be axed firmly in the Guardian’s direction after reporting what was contained in the latest draft budget over the weekend.

He said: “I think a lot of this has come from what I would personally call a very poor report from the paper.

“Somebody has done a report with big headlines on cancelling the FAB – completely incorrect – but what it has done is scaremonger and raise concerns with a lot of members of the public.”

Yet despite Cllr Latham blaming the Guardian for residents raising concerns about FAB, Middlewich Town Council had already begun to receive comments about it before the article in question was published.

In the same agenda as the third draft budget, published online last week, comments from one resident said: “I don't think that budget costs should be a reason cited for cancellation of 2021.”

Another added: “Please don’t cancel FAB, this is important to many businesses. The loss is well worth it to the town.”

What was said last month

Those concerns were prompted by what town councillors said at the November 16 meeting, when Ms Benskin was asked to produce a new draft budget without the festival, and some councillors made a strong case to axe it.

Cllr Latham started the debate on FAB Fest that night, telling councillors: “Clearly, to me, the events are put on for the Middlewich people.

“If the events are not going to be held for the Middlewich people – and yet we are budgeting and we are expecting the Middlewich people to perhaps pay a precept rise – that can’t be right.”

Following his comments, four members spoke of their doubts about whether the festival would go ahead next year.

Cllr Gareth Williams said: “We certainly don’t know how quickly [a vaccine] will be rolled out and I am sure our target market for FAB is not going to be top of the list.

“I’m very conscious that I think we should not be planning on any events, certainly before September.

“I would like to ringfence and protect if possible the Remembrance service next year – I think it is more likely that can go ahead with it being later in the year and maybe we should still be budgeting something for a Christmas market or something like that.

FAB Fest usually pulls in big crowds

“But I just cannot see anything happening before that.”

Echoing his concerns, Cllr Pauline Hickey said: “The events really need cutting back because I honestly don’t think we are going to get anything done next year.

“Hopefully, as Cllr Williams said, we get to Remembrance Day and Christmas – but anything before that I think we can just count it out.”

And perhaps the most vocal in supporting the event being cancelled, Cllr Sean Boyle added: “I don’t think we should spend any more money on FAB at all.

“I would be in favour of cancelling it for next year and beyond that I would be thinking of putting it back in the hands of the community and the council abandoning running it entirely.

“Maybe as an alternative it could be run by what is the fringe now, the pubs and things like that, for their own benefit – so we abandon the central sites and don’t spend any more money or time on it, or staff time.”

Ms Benskin went on to tell councillors it would cost £9,000 to refund tickets from this year which were carried over to 2021, while the projected profits would be lost and there would be costs of at least £1,500.

In response, Cllr Boyle said: “But I think it is likely to be not happening anyway, so we are going to incur these costs.”

Cllr Williams agreed that the council was ‘going to lose that income regardless of whether we spend that money or not’, before telling councillors ‘let’s not spend it’.

Chairman Cllr Hunter added: “I don’t know whether we go for a postponement – I mean I just don’t see it happening next year.

Cllr Mike Hunter, chairman of Middlewich Town Council

“If it does happen it is going to be very, very late. Who wants to go to an outdoor concert in the blooming winter?”

He also suggested the council should ‘clear the events for next year completely’ – and said the budget associated with the festival is ‘an amazing amount of money’.

Councillors concluded the discussion by asking the clerk to produce a draft budget with FAB taken out, and it was the contents of this which the Guardian reported on at the weekend.

What happens now?

A fourth draft budget was also presented to councillors on Monday, but this was not made available to the press or public before the meeting.

Victoria Buildings, where Middlewich Town Council is based

This version kept FAB Fest in at a neutral cost – but removed many other spending areas such as CCTV, locking up Fountain Fields at night, and flowers for the town.

Members discussed this and called for another draft to be made available by the clerk ahead of their next public meeting.

This would include details on each spending area and how it would impact the precept, with the idea that residents will be able to have their say on their priorities.

A final decision will then be made on the budget at a later meeting.

The Guardian refutes the comments made against the newspaper by members of the council in its latest meeting.