Why Hereford's Wye festival had to be postponed

A new Hereford charity fundraising event has had to be called off – after organisers were refused an events licence.

Hereford Round Table said it “had no choice but to postpone” its Rock the Wye Festival, which was to take place beside the river at Hereford Rugby Club this month, after Herefordshire Council’s licensing department refused it a Temporary Event Notice (TENs).

However, the council said it could not agree to the licence because the Round Table wanted too many people  to attend the event – nearly three times as many as the licence allows.

Hereford Round Table claimed online that the cancellation of the event “was caused by a refusal by Herefordshire Council licensing department to process the TENs” for the festival, which was to feature live music, DJs, street food and children’s entertainment.

“As a small team of volunteers this is very disappointing, but we intend to host the same event later this year, and look forward to receiving your continuing support for us,” organisers said.

The “hundreds” who had bought day or weekend tickets for the event, which was meant to take place on May 24 and 25, “will receive an email regarding refunds in due course”, they added, and thanked “all the amazing bands we had booked, along with all the food vendors”, who “we hope to have back for the rearranged date”.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said that TENs are limited by law to events of under 500 attendees and staff, yet HRT “sought to permit a capacity of 1,497 attendees” at Rock the Wye.

“An event of that scale would normally require a premises licence, which enables the application of specific conditions to ensure effective event management – something that is not possible through the TENs process,” the spokesperson said.

They added that the council “is currently reviewing the matter and it would not be appropriate to comment further while a formal complaint is being considered”.

The Round Table were asked when a new date might be but were unable to provide one.