The organiser of one of the biggest events in York says he’s been left ‘gutted’ by news that it’s been turned down this year.
The Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta was due to be staged on Knavesmire over three days during the last weekend in September.
Organisers were hoping to rebrand it as the ‘Yorkshire Big Weekend’ to reflect the fact that they were staging even more family entertainment, including a monster truck arena and a big top.
But Make It York have refused permission to allow it to go ahead – and organiser John Lowery says it leaves him thinking “York just doesn’t want large-scale events”.
Make It York said they rejected the proposal for a number of reasons, including health and safey concerns. Its statement is below.
The Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta has been a huge success in the past. The last time it was staged on Knavesmire, in 2022, 60,000 people attended.
It couldn’t stay there in 2023 – as York Racecourse were holding an extra race meeting on the same weekend.
But this year John had already worked alongside the racecourse team to reach an agreement that the fiesta could return on 26-28 September.
He approached Make It York expecting to get their backing for one of the largest events in the calendar.
Instead he was told he would have to apply for permission and that Make It York would invite other people to put in their own ‘expressions of interest’ to stage something that weekend.
Today (Wednesday) he learned that Make It York had turned him down. And that no other event will be staged on Knavesmire that weekend either.
John told YorkMix: “I’m gutted to be honest. Being from York, I like to stand on that stage and see thousands of people happy and jumping about and enjoying themselves.
“York just doesn’t want large scale events in my eyes. You look at all these other big cities, Leeds, Manchester, they all run big events.
“We’re working currently on some ideas with Manchester Council for different things. And, you know, they’re very proactive on getting events.
“I’m not saying they have to be my events. It could be anybody’s events, but York just doesn’t seem to want them.”
John said that Make It York told him they rejected his bid because organisers didn’t submit enough details about transport and traffic management.
What Make It York say
A spokesperson for Make It York said: “The submission lacked fully auditable plans for site operations, including insufficient detail on set-up and takedown scheduling, traffic management, and counter terrorism strategies.
“The proposal did not provide adequate assurance or documentation related to event licensing, infrastructure needs (particularly in light of the site’s intricacies), nor a comprehensive health and safety framework inclusive of crowd management and emergency protocols.
“Given the size and nature of the Balloon Fiesta event, it is essential that all supporting documentation is provided to ensure this can be assessed fully.
“There had been significant concerns following the previous event regarding health and safety particularly in relation to noise levels and other incidents. Make It York will not at any time compromise the health and safety of residents and visitors.”
Managing director of Make It York Sarah Loftus said: “Make It York hold the premise licence for the Knavesmire, and we have to be confident that all the requirements are met.
“The Balloon Fiesta’s application did not satisfy these elements.
“We know that the lack of information would not meet the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) requirements, and the expression of interest to run the event was the organiser’s opportunity to demonstrate how they would operate as per our licence conditions, so we were unable to progress to the next stage.”
But he pointed out that they’d spent £25,000 on traffic management for the previous Knavesmire events, and there were no problems for the last two fiestas staged there.
If Make It York had asked him “to supply X, Y and Z we would supply X, Y and Z”.
“We invested a lot of money. We had no traffic issues for the last couple of years. Noise issues – we worked very hard with the Environmental Health under strict circumstances to make sure that worked OK.
“And we brought some big acts for the ticket price, like Gabrielle.”
This year’s event would have finished with a fireworks spectacular again.
He said councillors, including City of York Council deputy leader Cllr Pete Kilbane, had been supportive of their plans.
Ticket prices would have been kept down, in light of the ongoing cost of living crisis, and the fiesta would have raised lots of cash for good causes again.
But it’s not to be. John said he would try again next year.