A councillor has expressed his fears for the future of a number of Liverpool leisure businesses following the announcement that the annual Mathew Street Festival is to be replaced by another event.
The popular festival, which has been running for 20 years, attracts around 300,000 revellers to the city centre over the August Bank Holiday weekend. However the city council says that, due to budget cuts, it can no longer afford to fund the event and replacing it with the smaller Liverpool International Music Festival will save over £300,000 per year.
Mayor Joe Anderson insists that financial considerations are not the only factor in the decision and that it is the right time to ‘freshen up’ the event. The new four day festival includes stages in Sefton Park and Pierhead and will feature a performance from the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
“It will still be Europe’s biggest annual free city centre music festival, it will still attract audiences to the city, but we hope that it will also look at more different types of music,” Mayor Anderson said.
Mathew Street is internationally famous as the home of the Cavern Club, the venue which launched the career of the Beatles. Today it is a popular tourist destination and many of the properties on the street and in the surrounding area are occupied by bars, restaurants, hotels and other leisure businesses.
Tom Morrison, the Liberal Democrat Leader on the city council, regrets the decision to scrap Mathew Street Festival. He told the Liverpool Daily Post that it provides a much needed boost for these venues at a quiet time of the year and he warns that it could lead to job losses.
“The businesses I’ve spoken to say that this could be the difference between sinking and swimming for them this year,” he said.
But not all bar owners agree with Councillor Morrison. Ray Smith of the Saddle says it will be an opportunity for pubs to put on music events like they used to rather than the acts being on open air stages.
He also says that, for many years, pubs and bars have been competing with on-street beer sellers and that the scrapping of the festival might actually help them increase trade over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Others echo this upbeat view, promising that they will be putting on some of the best bands from around the world and providing a great atmosphere.
“It’s a real shame,” said Ethan Allen of Eric’s. “But we will continue to put on a terrific live music festival across our indoor stages on Mathew Street.”
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