Should there be Community Festivals? - Page 2

Margaret Pilkington · 03-04-2006, 19:57

These events don't hold any interest for me either...maybe I am the wrong age group. Pesonally i think if you attend something like this you should expect to pay a nominal charge...after all, nothing is for nothing!

thomas_045 · 03-04-2006, 20:03

ouch... lol

Neil · 03-04-2006, 20:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Pesonally i think if you attend something like this you should expect to pay a nominal charge...after all, nothing is for nothing!

It would be very difficult if for example we tried to charge people to enter a public park like Rhyddings. For a start there is not just a couple of ways in. I suppose we could charge for each event but that is not the reason we want to hold events. We want to bring the whole community together and get them using the Park again. We want the Older people to enjoy it like they once did. We want the younger people to respect and look after it instead of damaging it. We want it to be free and fun for everyone. If we can manage that by taking money from organisations that want to give it to us then what is wrong with that?

Margaret Pilkington · 03-04-2006, 20:52

I do use the park in Clayton.....almost on a weekly basis......but I don't want the noise or the resultant mess.....I like to use the park to contemplate, to walk.....to watch the people playing bowls......I don't go to these events because I find them noisy and they are not fun for me....but that is purely a personal opinion. What keeps me out of the park is the gangs of youths and the drinkers....if I go there and see teens hanging about then I don't go in. Maybe I am misjudging the youth, but I do find that their attitude is intimidating.
And to answer your question Neil....there is nothing wrong in taking money from orgnisations that want to promote such events.....but I think that people respect things more if they have to pay for them.

Madhatter · 03-04-2006, 21:23

I disagree, most of our events are free,and they are well attended and well appreciated.
Infact the classic vehicle show is getting bigger each year, it started as a few cars on the market square, now the roads get closed off, the car park gets filled, trade stands the works.
I suppose it depends what type of event it is.
Personally I dont think I should have to pay to get onto a carnival field unless it has Quality entertainment.
Hard for me to comment on your events, if I'd expect to or not cos I've never been.

Neil · 03-04-2006, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

What keeps me out of the park is the gangs of youths and the drinkers....if I go there and see teens hanging about then I don't go in.

I hope you contact the Police each and every time you see them. The Police are of the opinion that the crime rate is dropping. I don not think it is. I think that people do not report crime therefore it does not become a statistic.

If you see it report it. When you do ask for the incident number and to be contacted by the relevant Police beat manager for that area so you can find out the outcome of your report.

One last point, and this is not aimed at anyone in particular. If you can't be bothered reporting it then please don't moan about it, you had your chance to do something about it and could not be bothered.

Bagpuss · 03-04-2006, 21:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisMG

Party in the park used to be good at Oakhill Park. It was a regular on my calendar every year. But for some reason it changed into the Mela in the park thing! music for the masses I suppose.

Exactly ChrisMG, I would have paid a small fee until it became too comercial and started calling it a mela, it was a shame too many idiots got involved in organizing it, keep it simple and there wouldn't have been a problem.

Neil · 03-04-2006, 21:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bagpuss

it was a shame too many idiots got involved in organizing it, keep it simple and there wouldn't have been a problem.

Did you offer your obviously expert advice, time and effort on running the event or could you not be arsed? After all it's easier to slag of those that can be bothered to get involved when it is not to your taste

Debbie J · 03-04-2006, 22:05

Myself and my son both enjoyed 'go scatty in gatty'. He got the chance to have a go at the climbing wall which he had never seen before. I met up with a number of people I hadn't seen for years. I also found out about community groups in my area I didn't know existed.
Although I'm not knocking Mela to me it doesn't seem to have the same atmosphere that the 'sound years' had.
But that's no reason for this borough to be deprived of them. I think they bring a bit of relief to the long summer days for those of us who can't afford to go to sunnier climes. At the end of the day there is very little to do that doesn't cost the earth, there are no longer kids clubs or punch and judy in the parks and the council has taken away yet more funding so that there is nothing left to do.

Bagpuss · 03-04-2006, 22:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Did you offer your obviously expert advice, time and effort on running the event or could you not be arsed? After all it's easier to slag of those that can be bothered to get involved when it is not to your taste

Ok maybe the word "idiots" was a bit strong but the fact is when it was not a mela costing £12000 we had a concert.

Neil · 04-04-2006, 06:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bagpuss

....when it was not a mela costing £12000 we had a concert.

What do you get now? I have been to the concerts before but not sure if I have been to the mela.

What is a mela anyway, googling finds some strange results.

From here

Quote:

What is a Mela?

Mela is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘to meet’, used to describe all sorts of community celebrations and festivals in the Asian subcontinent.
A long-standing tradition in South Asia, the Mela strengthens communities by bringing people together in a festival atmosphere where everyone can enjoy food, music and dance.

From here

Quote:

Mela and pomo are both used as Italian terms for apple, although mela is used more prominently.

I am interested to know how an out door music concert full of dope smoking p***heads was turned into an asian festival.

AccyRach · 04-04-2006, 09:01

Wow, this has caused some debating!
I for one am in favour of these get togethers and it really bothers me that people complain about the noise. I don't want to upset anyone, but when it really comes down to it, it's just one afternoon out of the whole year. Is that really too much to handle?
One afternoon when people do gather together and enjoy themselves and get to try new things such as the climbing wall in Oak Hill last year. I would never have taken my son climbing, but he really enjoyed it and the man that was running it was really encouraging when he got a little stuck. The look on his face when he got to the top was priceless!
I'm not sure charging £5 admission would be a good idea, it would probably keep people away (unless everything inside the park would be free) I would rather there were more things like the climbing wall that we could pay for if we want to use them. Then the stallholders would be charged a fee and maybe a % of the profits could go towards the costs?
I was going to put forward pony rides as an idea (free fertilizer for the park!), but they probably wouldn't cope too well with the music AND the children!! However, I know a few people I would like to see at the top of a bungee jumping crane........

Gayle · 04-04-2006, 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

I am interested to know how an out door music concert full of dope smoking p***heads was turned into an asian festival.

I think it was originally called Sound but that was mainly music, then it was Party in the Park which took the music but also had the community elements - i.e. funfair, arts and crafts etc. Then it became a two day thing with a Mela on one day (aimed at Asian people) and a Party in the Park on the second day (still with music and stuff). Last year it was called a Mela and Community Festival and it was held on one day. It was really good - there was no predominance of Asian or white faces it was a really good mix of the community.

This year - and the reason I asked the question like I did - it will (if we get funding) be simply a Community Festival for the whole community.

If we get funding it will be free. The reason why it should be free is so that EVERYONE is able to attend.

The reason it costs so much is stage hire (around £1,600), toilets (around £1000), live bands (around £5000 - to get bigger names they'd cost a whole lot more), insurance, circus acts, arts and crafts workshops, marquee hire, it adds up. And yes, we do charge the funfair and the foodstalls and the climbing wall a % of their taking anyway.

As for the question about Council tax going up - that is the whole reason why we are going for EXTERNAL lottery funding and not getting any from the Council this year.

The Council have stopped the funding for ALL the festivals and yet they've still managed to put the Council tax up anyway.

Gayle · 04-04-2006, 09:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bagpuss

it was a shame too many idiots got involved in organizing it, keep it simple and there wouldn't have been a problem.

Bagpuss, this I find offensive. You have no idea what work goes into organising these things and the committee does it outside their regular jobs. There are six of us who turn up regularly for committee meetings and do the majority of the work - I don't think that six people over complicate things.

As for calling me an idiot - that is uncalled for, it's plain rude and unnecessary!

Each year the event evolves a little so yes, it has changed over the years. If it was exactly the same everyone would be bored by now.

Tealeaf · 04-04-2006, 12:28

Did we not have this debate in the summer of last year? I assume the Mods must be down the pub, because otherwise this thread would have been merged into this one:

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...highlight=mela

Although what does appear interesting is that last year's cost of 17K is only now 12K. What was the additional 5K wasted on last year?