One of the organisers of the Portuguese Food Festival has sought to reassure islanders that this year’s event will still be “the full package” – despite a reduction in loud music and entertainment partially attributed to a more “robust” approach by the health and safety regulator.
Jason Maindonald said there would be “more focus on the food and the atmosphere” at this year’s Festival, which will take place from Thursday to Monday in People’s Park.
He explained that organisers had decided there would be no funfair this time and “a slight change in the level of sound”.
Mr Maindonald said that this was partly due to the Health and Safety Inspectorate taking a more “robust” approach to the event industry, although he acknowledged that standards regarding noise were “not new”.
There will be more focus on the food and the atmosphere than there will be on having really loud music
Jason Maindonald, Portuguese Food Festival organiser
He told Express that a reduction in the amount of loud music was “the way to make an event happen at the moment, until you can navigate the way the Health and Safety Inspectorate want you to work”.
But Mr Maindonald stressed that islanders would not notice a “massive change”, maintaining that this year’s event and insisted that “it’s still going to be a full package”.
“There’s still going to be music, there’s still going to be a DJ,” he continued, noting that there would also be a singer coming to the island from Madeira.
But Mr Maindonald added: “There will be more focus on the food and the atmosphere than there will be on having really loud music.”
The Health and Safety Inspectorate provides guidance to event organisers on managing risks to the public and workers effectively in line with the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
Following requests for comment, the inspectorate confirmed that there have been no changes to the legal requirements or to the law itself.