Wirral music festival succeeds despite court case – and the rain

Jun 2 2010 by Liam Murphy, Birkenhead News

A MAJOR music festival in Wirral has been hailed a success.

Organisers of the Sunset Festival said almost 5,000 people attended the event in Thurstaston, which started on Friday and ended on Sunday.

Attendance figures were lower than expected, but that was blamed on a court case which caused many to doubt whether the event would go ahead.

The festival had faced an objection lodged against it which resulted in a court case just weeks before the event took place, despite being awarded a licence last year.

The case had meant minor changes to the licence awarded by the council, but the uncertainty caused is believed to have affected ticket sales.

But organiser Andy Carr, a local businessman from Heswall, said the festival at White’s Farm, overlooking the Dee Estuary, had succeeded despite the objection – and the downpour on Saturday.

He said he felt the success of the event had also proven doubters wrong, and they were now already planning for next year.

He said: “Just under 5,000 were there. With the court case being so recent, people thought it wasn’t on and wouldn’t happen, and we couldn’t do anything about that. But, to get 5,000 under those circumstances and after everything we’ve been through was brilliant.”