The annual Black Deer Festival in Eridge Park was due to take place from June 25 to 27 but due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, has been forced to postpone until next year.
Every year, Black Deer attracts over 30,000 visitors to its 2,500 acre site on the borders of Kent and East Sussex. Festival-goers from the South East, the rest of the UK and from all over the world, bring a vital boost to Wealden’s economy with revenues from tourism, transport, and hospitality sectors.
MP for Wealden Nusrat Ghani has been working tirelessly to salvage the event, cooperating closely with Gill Tee, the co-founder and director of Black Deer and neighbouring MP Greg Clark, making countless representations to the Government and Arts Council England.
Despite the event being Covid-safe with test&trace system in place and premises large enough to host quadruple the amount of ticket holders, the event has still been postponed.
Nusrat Ghani said: ”In Parliament today, I raised my concerns over the two-tier system for outdoor events and why Ministers can produce data for sporting events being given the go-ahead while other outdoor Covid-safe events such as Black Deer Festival are being cancelled. The event was ready to go with robust safety measures in place to be Covid-safe and yet it had to cancel last-minute.
I’m beyond devastated for Gill, the co-founder and director of Black Deer, and the hundreds of organisers, performers and suppliers involved in the planning for this fantastic Covid-safe outdoor event – now postponed until 2022.
We are extremely lucky to have this unique music festival at our doorstep and I’m dreading the impact the multiple postponements have had on many livelihoods and the local economy. I will continue to do all I can to support the Black Deer event management team through this difficult time.”
You can watch Nusrat's speech in full here.
The original article is available here.
