ORGANISERS of the annual Brentford Festival could be forced to abandon the borough and move to Ealing.
Since 2005 the Friends of Boston Manor Park and its off-shoot - the Brentford Festival Committee, have staged an event at Boston Manor Park to bring together and thank the community which supports it.
However this year’s festival, which was due to take place on Sunday, was cancelled after claims contracting firm John Laing Integrated Services had suddenly demanded £6,000 to hire the venue.
The group also learned a similar charge was made the previous year which was picked up by the council.
Hundreds of disappointed residents held a picnic, which included a Bee Walk led by Friends of the Earth, in its place and crossed fingers the row would be resolved in time to allow 2013’s festival to go ahead.
But when the Chronicle contacted Friends’ chairwoman Linda Massey this week, the news was less than encouraging.
She said: “If things had gone as they should, then even at this early stage we would be starting to plan for next year’s event.
“As it is, I have an email from John Laing saying that while they are willing to reconsider the amount they charge, they aren’t willing to scrap it entirely and they doubt they can provide their staff to help set up and take down the festival – both of which their subcontractors used to do in previous years.
“Unless they are willing to back down on this, there’s a strong likelihood we will cancel again, only this time we will go somewhere else altogether as the scaled charge applies to all parks in Hounslow.”
The location suggested is Blondin Park, in Northfields, Ealing, as Mrs Massey wants to stay close to the current venue, but feels nearby Elthorne Park in Hanwell would be unsuitable due to being home to the Hanwell Carnival each year.
Her group already fundraises throughout the year to afford the cost of hiring sound equipment, marquees, toilets and generators for the festival and says having to additionally pay for the venue and to hire support staff is a cost too far.
This year’s event was cancelled in December 2011 as the group already knew by then there would not be time to make all the arrangements even if an agreement with John Laing was reached.
This time the deadline is even closer, if the contractor won’t agree to waive all hiring costs and reinstate the labour before December, then Brentford Festival 2013 will almost certainly be held in Ealing.
In the email to Mrs Massey it states John Laing are looking to create an Events Strategy alongside the council in which costs and support available to groups like hers would be clearly laid out.
However she says the same excuse was given back in 2011 and a year on no progress has been made.
The Chronicle approached John Laing who referred us to Hounslow Council for a comment but they had not responded by the time we went to press.
Picture credit: Ealing Today
