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Music fans call cancelled Liverpool festival Hope & Glory ‘dangerous’ and ‘shambolic’

Rhian Daly

The event suffered huge delays yesterday (August 5) and its second day was pulled hours before gates were due to open

Music fans in Liverpool have called Hope & Glory festival “dangerous” and “shambolic” in the wake of chaos on the event’s first day.

The 12,5000-capacity festival was booked to take place at William Brown Street in the city’s St George’s Quarter. James, Hacienda Classical, Ocean Colour Scene, Razorlight and The Fratellis were amongst those to feature on the line-up.

Police were called to the event yesterday (August 5) when the area became overcrowded. Thousands of fans were made to wait for hours and many complained of poor access to facilities including toilets, food and drink.

Merseyside Police tweeted that they were “working with stewards at opening up another entrance”.

Organisers for the festival blamed the production manager for the chaos and posted his name and email address on a post on their Facebook page. “The production manager who did not complete the site in time and did not provide the planned bridged walkways into the garden was Richard Agar,” it read.

In a statement provided to the Liverpool Echo, festival promoter Lee O’Hanlon said Hope & Glory would take place today (August 6) as planned, saying “steps had been taken to ensure another great day of entertainment.”

However, the event was pulled hours before gates were due to open. “Following the unfair and vitriolic comments, some of us have decided not to proceed,” they wrote on their Twitter page. Another tweet read: “no festival today”.

Notices posted on fences around the festival area read: “The event management company who were responsible for delivering the Hope and Glory event have decided to cancel today’s festival.

“Liverpool City Council has no choice but to accept this decision.”

Fans have hit out at the festival organisers for the way the issues were handled. “Hope and glory festival was an absolute shambles!” wrote on Twitter user.

“So the Hope and Glory festival turned out badly,” posted another. “Like the Fyre Festival but with none of the lols.”

“What a disaster hope and glory festival is,” another user tweeted. “Price of the tickets as well [tickets were reportedly £90]. 12,000 people on the cobbles? Lucky to get 4 taxis there.”

Another tweeted at local radio station Radio City 697, asking: “Can you see us in at the hope and glory festival from your tower. We are basically trapped. So dangerous.” See more reactions below.

Yesterday, Charlotte Church tweeted that she had been removed from the line-up due to the delays. “We’re gutted!” she wrote in a series of tweets, before saying she was trying to find an alternative venue to play. The singer eventually organised a last minute edition of her Pop Dungeon performance at club night Liquidation.

James frontman Tim Booth tweeted after his band’s set: “Well that was fucked up. Sorry everyone who was messed around so badly. Hope you managed to find some pleasure amongst the chaos. NBL.”

The official festival Twitter account later quoted his tweet and replied: “It really wasn’t.”

Venues in and around the city are in the process of organising alternative places for bands booked for the festival today to play.