ORGANISERS of the First Aid Music Festival are predicting a much bigger and better event with a change of location to Okehampton Showfield and a new date.
Arrangements are
being made to rebook top acts which agreed to appear in May, including the Honeyz, Damage and the Three Degrees, and with the extra month to prepare for the festival it is believed even more stars will sign up to perform.
People who have already made reservations will be given a full refund or priority bookings for the revised date.
Trustees of the First Aid charity set up to help people whose livelihoods have been affected by the foot and mouth crisis, confirmed this week that with its dedicated facilities for large events, the showfield would provide a more suitable venue than Simmons Park and it has a larger capacity to deal with the unprecedented demand the event had generated.
Trustee Tim Jones, who is also a member of the Government's Rural Task Force, said that after consultation with local community and public sector groups it was resolved the festival should be relocated.
He said scheduling the event for Simmons Park had created some problems and it was becoming clear if they went ahead, some objections would have been raised at the licensing meeting tomorrow (Friday).
With time running out, it was decided to reschedule the festival and hold it at the showfield, with permission from the Okehampton Show Committee, which was already used to hosting large events. Car parking could also be provided on-site.
The event is expected to attract 60,000 people over the three days and raise up to £1-million which will go back into the local economy.
Festival co-ordinator Suzanne Watt said everyone was working around the clock to see the festival happen and despite the problems with Simmons Park the event had not lost its impetus.
'The added time is an advantage as it allows us to explore the possibilities of booking even larger mega stars,' she said.