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Empty deckchairs at Darwen Day
Business owners claim they were not asked to be involved with a recent event celebrating their town, and feel insulted at the lack of communication between organisers and town centre traders.
Darwen Day, which was held on Saturday, was the first major event to be staged in the town since the start of the pandemic, but several businesses within the hospitality sector say they were overlooked, with the event s organisation being handed over to a company that has no permanent presence in Darwen. The revival of the once popular Darwen Day, which was abandoned several years ago, was this year organised by Let’s Make, Crafty Vintage, Darwen Town Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council, however, Suzanne Halliwell, who runs Dolly s Tearoom, and Gary Perkins, who runs six businesses in Darwen town centre, said they were not asked to be involved in the event, and only found out about the festival at the end of June.
Following the cancellation this year, the town s annual event will now go ahead in October. Local musicians will showcase their talent along with former Happy Mondays star, Shaun Ryder who will be the headline act with his band, Black Grape. Darwen Live first came on to the scene in 1999 and has seen some famous musicians on the main stage including the Bolton-formed punk and rock band, Buzzcocks. Darwen Live was given the green light tonight by Darwen Town Council and the music festival s organiser Darren James, who joined Darwen Live in 2013. Darren said: We are so happy that the festival has been given the go ahead.
PLANS to reschedule Darwen Live for the first weekend in September have hit a snag - the market square was already booked for the Saturday. Now organisers are looking at a later date instead to accommodate the annual community day organised by the town s Rotary Club. Brian Taylor, the sitting Darwen West Labour councillor standing for re-election on May 6, who suggested the revised date has apologised for causing any confusion. The normal May Bank Holiday Darwen Live event has already been cancelled for the second year running because of coronavirus restrictions. Mr Taylor won the backing of Darwen Town Council for rearranging the free music festival on September 4 and 5 but Tony O Hara, community services officer for the town s Rotary Club, pointed out it had already booked the town square for its event.
Darwen Live 2019 A SLIMMED-down Darwen Live weekend could take place in September if a councillor has his way. Brian Taylor, up for re-election on May 6, believes it could be a major boost to the town and local groups. The Labour candidate for Darwen West in next month’s borough and town council polls said the free music festival could go ahead in a Covid-secure manner on the weekend of September 4 and 5. The normal May Bank Holiday Darwen Live event has already been cancelled for the second year running because of coronavirus restrictions. Mr Taylor made the suggestion at the last meeting of the current Darwen Town Council earlier this month.