BILLERICAY: Future of major festival in doubt

DOUBTS have been cast over the future of a major festival set for Billericay.

Despite earlier announcements, tickets for ifestlive have not gone on sale because Barleylands said it would not be hosting the event.

Billericay teenager Philip Hutchinson announced the Glastonbury-style festival in February and venue Barleylands said they had booked the event into their schedule for July 2011.

Mr Hutchinson, 19, of Chapel Court, Billericay, said at the time: "We want 120,000 people at the event, with music stages, comedy shows and a full-size nightclub.

"It will be one of the biggest events in the country."

But now, Phil Burrows, the commercial manager of Barleylands, has said: "There are plenty of opportunities for people and businesses at Barleylands and we often talk with various organisations about new ideas.

"PH Productions made preliminary enquiries regarding hiring our venue some time ago for a festival but, after further investigations, we have spoken with PH Productions and agreed that ifestlive will not be going ahead at Barleylands."

Mr Burrows continued: "We wish Philip Hutchinson the very best success with his venture, wherever he decides to hold it."

Following the announcement, websites took the decision not to offer ifestlive tickets for sale.

David Eve, managing director of Essex Live, which was due to sell the tickets from last Friday, said: "We had a conversation with the promoters and took the decision not to sell any tickets until firm details were in place about the venue for the event."

He continued: "We are Essex specialists with a good reputation, and were very excited with the ambition and proposed scope of the festival.

"But we only want to offer tickets to our customers once all the details are confirmed."

Tickets were also unavailable through Ticketmaster, another vendor.

Mr Hutchinson said: "We were disappointed that Barleylands took the decision not to host the event, and we are now looking for another venue.

"We've officially launched the brand and set up a website, and are still keen to go ahead next year."