‘Born of frustration’ for music festival fans and acts

A music festival in Liverpool collapsed in disarray as organisers cancelled the second day (yesterday, Sunday) of live performances, leaving fans queueing for hours.

This followed a chaotic first day of the Hope and Glory Festival at St George’s Square when it became overcrowded.

Police were called in to help after long waits and poor access to toilets and food and drink facilities.

Acts on Saturday included James, The Fratellis, Razorlight and Charlotte Church, who was axed from the bill because the show was running two hours late.

The Lightning Seeds, whose home city is Liverpool, were also left searching for an alternative venue after they, Hacienda Classical and Reverend And The Makers were told they could not perform yesterday.

The Lightning Seeds eventually played at Zanzibar.

James front man Tim Booth tweeted after their performance: “Sorry everyone was messed around so badly. Hope you managed to find some pleasure amongst the chaos.”

Meanwhile, Hope & Glory Festival Liverpool also put out a message on its Facebook page criticising its production manager and supplying his email details for complaints to be directed to.

The name and email address of the manager was published online, with organisers saying they were responsible for there being no bridged walkways and the site being incomplete.

The company responded, however, stating that the email address had “been posted in error and is not the correct contact for ticket refunds or complaints about the festival”.

Attendees were handed notices yesterday stating that the festival would not be continuing.