GuilFest boss says he wants to be only major festival next year

GuilFest 2014

Friday 18th to Sunday 20th July 2014
Stoke Park, Guildford, Surrey, England MAP
£120 weekend with camping, child 12-17 £85, u12s free

Daily capacity: 25,000

GuilFest organiser Tony Scott (pictured) is hoping to bring the independent event back next year to continue it's 21 year history, and has told GetSurrey, (here), that he thinks the local council will have choose whether to bring his festival back to Guildford or have Live Nation's Magic Summer Live return for a second year in 2014.

Since the sad loss of GuilFest last year, after the company behind it went into liquidation, organiser Scott has had offers of support in helping to reinstate the festival, and an online petitions which have gained thousands of signatures, triggering a Full Council meeting in the Council Chambers next Thursday, 10th October to discuss the issue.

Mr Scott said, “The response we have received has been overwhelming. All of last year we were being contacted by people wondering why the event wasn’t on and asking when it will be back. The number of people that have taken the time to join the petitions is brilliant. It shows that there is real support for the event that has been around for 21 years. We want to stay in Guildford. But we also want to be the only major festival event in Guildford next year.”

One of the older events, Guildford Live was re-named GuilFest in 2002 and has each year offered a multitude of different musical styles with classic and modern acts, plus entertainment, children's area, art and crafts, and a truly festive atmosphere. It had been one of eFestivals favourite festivals, and one that we had sponsored since 2002.

Promoters Live Nation hosted a new music festival Magic Summer Live this year over GuilFest's traditional dates at the same site, headlined by Bryan Adams and Jamiroquai which saw 12,000 festival-goers attend each day, and has already shown an interest to return in 2014.

Tony Scott and his team have registered their interest with Guildford Borough Council to see the festival return to its home, in the grounds of Stoke Park and say they are working on new ideas for next year's event and are assuring local residents, festival goers, music aficionados and everyone else with any interest that if this happens they will return with the best GuilFest ever seen.

The director of Magic Summer Live, John Revell of Live Nation, has also said he was pleased with this year’s event and looks forward to bringing the event back and developing it in the future.

GuilFest boss Tony Scott does not think the town has the capacity to host both events in a single summer, and says he thinks the council will be left with the final decision.

Scott is quoted as saying, “The council’s support is what we need. I think it is likely that they will have to choose which festival to put on. I don’t know that both events could be put on as one would affect the other. There would be several issues with that. It would be difficult to see how the two would overlap. They could want the same acts, or they could split audiences. There would be a question as to whether there would be enough demand for two events in the same place soon after each other.

“The other question would be whether Stoke Park could accommodate or take two events of this size in a single summer. Having two events could cause quite a bit of confusion among audiences as well. The chances are you would end up with two events that could cancel out each others’ audience.”

It looks as though the future of both GuilFest 2014 and Magic Summer Live will now be debated at the Council’s meeting on next week, and eFestivals will bring you any further news once we have it.

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