Beach Festival to go ahead despite 'cancellation' announcement

Wednesday 24 April 2019

St. Helier's Constable has vowed the Jersey Beach Festival will still be going ahead this summer - despite its organiser announcing it was cancelled.

The festival's Facebook page yesterday said that the event would no longer be happening because the parish had not provided enough support.

But Constable Simon Crowcroft has since hit back at the allegation, arguing that organisers made demands he could not accept - including asking the Parish to foot the bill for the event.

Pictured: The Constable said that the Parish had been asked to foot the bill for the event.

The event, which was described as "a brand new festival for Jersey, for the Parish of St. Helier and for the community of Havre Des Pas," was due to take place on Sunday 28 July.

But the Havre Des Pas Beach Festival Committee yesterday announced “with deep regret” that the event would have to be cancelled after being “let down” by the parish.

“The Constable, Simon Crowcroft, and the Parish of St Helier, who have supported the Havre Des Pas Seaside Festival for many years, confirmed last week that they will not be supporting this event,” a post on the event's Facebook page read.

“The Committee would not have undertaken creating such an event if had we known Parish support was not going to be forthcoming. Therefore, this has left the Committee with no option but to cancel this event.”

They said they were “very disappointed and frustrated” that the Parish declined to provide support, adding that after the Seaside Festival fell through in 2019, Havre Des Pas residents and businesses gave their time freely “to create a new community event.”

“We feel incredibly let down by the Parish of St Helier,” the Committee added. “We can only hope that lessons are learnt by the Constable of St Helier and how the seeming disregard, lack of any support and economic impact cancellations of such festivals have on the local community, businesses and tourism.”

St. Helier Constable, Simon Crowcroft, told Express he was disappointed with the statement, adding that it was “absolute nonsense” to say the parish would not support the event. 

He explained the committee had made several demands - including using the Parish of St. Helier's bank account to process all the bills for the festivals - which he simply could not accept. 

Pictured: The St. Helier said it was "absolute nonsense" to say the Parish did not support the event.

Mr Crowcroft also said the organisers wanted the Parish to underwrite the event, which he refused to do, suggesting instead they apply for funding from the Youth and Community Trust. 

He said he was disappointed that no application had been made, and that although he told the organisers there was still time to apply for a different grant, they decided to cancel the event. 

“They effectively told the parish either pay or we will cancel, they wanted the parish to pay for everything,” he explained. “I told them they had to apply for money in the normal way. Other organisers who have done so would have been upset if the committee had had access to a tap to for the festival. 

"The ratepayers would have also objected to money being done without things being done the right way. I would have been in a serious situation with my procureurs if I had said yes.” 

Pictured: The Constable said the festival would definitely be going ahead.

Organisers for the Jersey Beach Festival also asked that the parish provide the public liability insurance, which the Constable says wouldn’t have been possible without the Parish paying a higher premium. “They gave me a price for it and I suggested they include it in their overall costs,” he said.

Constable Crowcroft said he was “quite concerned” by the announcement, as the committee is not in a position to cancel the event without consulting the Havre des Pas Improvement Group. “They should have come back to the committee to explain the issues they were having and the committee would have helped come up with a solution.”

He has, however, moved to reassure islanders that the festival will still happen.

“As far as I’m concerned, the seaside festival will go ahead, he said. “Even if it means I need someone else to come forward to organise it.”