No ‘Blkout’ for club night after Fort safety shock

Wednesday 10 April 2019

A new venue for Jersey’s largest club night has been found after an emergency stop was put on all large-scale events at the Fort following a damning fire safety review.

The producers behind drum and bass party Blkout are the latest in a series of music event organisers to declare ‘the show must go on’ after problems with lighting and access to escape routes led the number of people inside Fort Regent at any one time to be capped at 1,170.

Blkout had been due to take place on Saturday 31 March between 21:00 and 04:00, but has now been moved to Easter Saturday at the Watersplash between 21:30 and 02:00. 

In a Facebook posting, organisers said the last-minute drive to find a new location had been “challenging”, but nonetheless vowed to “make sure that this one goes down in the history books”.

They said they had explored hosting the event at Val de la Mare, which was not possible, and had also unsuccessfully applied for a late-night exceptional licence exception to allow the to put on the event beyond 02:00.

The post added that, due to the smaller event space, the club night was now sold out and had a waiting list. They said that those wishing to get a refund should get in contact within the next 48 hours.

“Apologies to anyone who will now miss out on BLKOUT this year but rest assured that this was 100% beyond our control, and we've done everything within our power to make it right for you!,” it read. “We will make the most out of this unforeseen situation that has been forced upon us.”

Meanwhile, Rockit Ltd, who had planned to bring 80s stars The Human League to Jersey have moved their concert to 24 May at the Royal Jersey Showground.

Alison Stewart, Chair of the Jersey Symphony Orchestra (JSO), who had previously voiced concerns about the risk posed to arts and culture on the island in the event of the Fort’s potential closure, also said she was pleased to have found a new site for their Spring Concert on Saturday 13 April.

After the “bombshell” and the “difficult process” that followed, she announced: “We’ve been so kindly taken care of by St Michael’s School, who have welcomed us to use their gym hall, which they will convert into a very nice, carpeted hall with seating for up to 500.”

Jersey’s young musicians forming part of the Jersey  Music Service were also lucky to have found a new location for their musicals-themed concert at short notice due to the Fort’s closure.

In the end, the gala went ahead at Le Rocquier School, with 250 children taking part.

Dr Graham Cox, Principal of the JMS, said of the event: “The Gala Concert is really important, it provides young people with an exciting performance opportunity they will never forget. Musicians need to perform, otherwise it’s a bit like training as a footballer every week and never playing in a match.”

Education Minister, Senator Tracey Vallois, who opened the event, applauded those who helped put on the concert, as well as the “young talent” involved. 

Despite nearly three weeks having passed since the Fort’s emergency event cancellations, there is still no hint that the upper capacity limit will be relaxed, allowing for more large-scale events in future. 

However, a Fort spokesperson denied that some of the recent issues – including an earlier detection of asbestos, which led to the closure of some gym and shower areas - meant “the end for Fort Regent”. 

Pictured: Some areas of the gym were closed off after asbestos was found.

“We continue to work with the landlord to ensure the building is safe for operations and our day to day activities continue.” they said. 

Detailing what work was currently being done to address the issues in the fire safety risk assessment, the spokesperson added: “Work is being conducted on the Fort's emergency lighting.  A team are on site installing upgrades to the emergency lighting solutions and are progressing well in this task. We are also carrying out reviews of the electrical installations in all of our open areas to ensure we continue to operate safely.”