The Hawkwind gig to be held on 27-29 August 2010, the exact 40 year anniversary of the end of August Bank Holiday of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, has today been given the go ahead by Isle of Wight council (IWC) licensing committee.
It’s even going to be on the same site, in field opposite East Afton Farm, Newport Road, Freshwater.
Five residents had put in letters of objection including quotes like, “With the advent of the WorldWide Internet, and ‘Twitter’ facilities, there is no way that this can be limited to 1,000 guests by the organisers …” continuing, “… in affect could possibly turn this area into a Three Day ‘Rave’ festival away from the actual concert site,” apparently ignoring that most Hawkwind fans will be over fifty years old.
Clearly, by granting the license, the members of the licensing committee didn’t hold the same concerns.
Only 1,000 guests
Hawkfest, as it’s being called, will be tiny by comparison to the other Island festivals, having only 1,000 guests planned.
Local residents also included concerns about the Golf course being used as a place to watch the gig for free – as happened at the 1970s festival.
“Afternoon tea in china cups”
Discussions between the events promoter and the Island police appeared affable with some discussion focusing on serving “afternoon tea in china cups” – so it didn’t exactly sound like it’s going to be a full blown riot.
Councillor George Cameron had sent a letter in support (PDF) of the event.
Image: Watt_Dabney under CC BY-SA 2.0
