Nus Ghani, MP for Wealden, has spoken in Parliament today about the Black Deer Festival, in relation to Covid-19 restrictions on live outdoor events.
Black Deer Festival was due to take place this weekend, but due to the delay in easing of coronavirus restrictions until 19th July, it was postponed until next year.
Van Morrison, Robert Plant and Jake Bugg were due to headline the event.
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.”
Nus Ghani MP
This is the second year the organisers have had to cancel the Americana music festival.
Nus Ghani is a member of the Covid Recovery Group, whose members have argued the country needs a strategy for living with the virus and that we don’t need further damaging restrictions. However she voted in favour of extending coronavirus restrictions for four weeks.
The original article is available here.
