Isle of Wight Festival's future is safe

The result of the Isle of Wight Festival festival licence review held over the last two days at the island's County Hall has been announced, with the Festival Licence Review Committee upholding the current licence.

Festival goers looking forward to the Isle of Wight Festival 2013 can rest easy as the licence for the festival at its current Seaclose Park site has not been withdrawn at the conclusion of the second day of the licence review.

The committee voted unanimously to keep the licence as it stands at present, with a slight modification to ensure the Event Safety and Operational Plan & Traffic Management Plan are made public. No change to capacity or licence length.

The Isle Of Wight Festival licence review was called after local aerospace firm GKN called for the festival's licence to be changed from the current 'in-perpetuity' licence and re-issued on a 12 month basis, reviewed every five years, and better consultation with businesses and residents on the island.

During the Licence Review the Police and Licensing Authority revealed they were both happy with licence as it stands, declaring it 'fit for purpose'. After heavy rain had caused transport issues getting to this year's event festival boss John Giddings said he was willing to invest in infrastructure, but wouldn't if the licence length was restricted, and also revealed he had a contingency plan to hold the festival at a site on the mainland if the licence had been withdrawn.

This summer ferries had been forced to spend the night in the Solent because huge tailbacks whilst emergency services attempted to keep roads moving which meant they were unable to dock on the island. There were long queues into the car park, and many spent the night in their cars. Giddings assured the meeting that lessons had been learnt and plans were in place to stop this happening again, with more car parks and entrances, saying "I'm willing to put my hand in my pocket but if you don't want us to just tell me and we'll go away." He added that it would not be worth his while to do the event if the licence period was restricted.

The festival revealed that their plans include introducing parking charges for the first time to prevent a repeat of the traffic chaos of the summer.

GKN had claimed its production facility in East Cowes was badly affected by traffic disruption, to the cost of £50,000, which it wanted the Isle of Wight Council and festival organisers Solo to reimburse.

The dates for the twelfth Isle of Wight festival are confirmed as from Thursday 13th until Sunday 16th June 2013. There are no acts confirmed yet for 2013 although it looks possible that Bon Jovi will headline. For the line-up rumours as available please click here.

An adult ticket with camping is priced at £185, with NUS weekend tickets with camping priced at £175, and a child (7 to 12 years) weekend ticket with camping is priced at £92.50. All children 6 years old and under on 13th June 2013 can go free of charge but must still be included in the booking in order to receive a wristband. A Campervan ticket is priced at £100, and parking for the weekend (4 Days) is priced at £15.

The ticket on sale date, and first announcement is expected on Monday, 26th November.

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