Organisers of a series of concerts at Belfast’s Custom House Square say there has been “fantastic” demand for tickets with most nights already sold out.
The CHSq series sees Welsh icon Tom jones taking to the stage tonight in front of a crowd of 5,000 people – with the likes of Fontaines DC, Kodaline, Nile Rogers and Scooter set to play in the coming days and weeks.
It comes just under a week after Laois County Council refused permission for Electric Picnic to be held in late September, citing the “most up-to-date public health advice” from the HSE.
The Government has promised to bring forward a plan within weeks to allow for the return of large gigs and concerts; however, it is unlikely to be ready in time for the annual festival to go ahead.
On The Hard Shoulder this evening, CHSq organiser Joe Dougan said everyone attending has to sit a negative antigen test or show that they are either fully vaccinated or fully recovered from the virus.
“The demand has been fantastic,” he said. “Most of the concerts are sold out and the remainder are well on the way.
“They are usually pretty popular anyway but there is big demand for live music at the moment as you can imagine.”
The return of live music concerts in Northern Ireland this evening. 5,000 people here to see Tom Jones headlining and being supported by The High Kings.
Definitely the biggest crowd I’ve been in in quite a while….. pic.twitter.com/bpDe12SXvq
— Barry Whyte (@BarryWhyte85) August 10, 2021
He said public health officials in the North still have an appetite for caution – but restrictions are likely to be eased further in the coming days.
He said the Electric Picnic decision was “extremely disappointing.”
“I feel that it is unfair,” he said. “The All-Ireland semi-finals are happening with, I think it is 25,000 people per event, and it is not even-handed that no concerts really are able to go ahead at any sort of scale but you have that going on.
“I think there is a lot of frustration in the Irish music industry and it is warranted as well. The people I know in the industry are pushing for a roadmap and hopefully we’ll get one really soon.
“So yeah, bitterly disappointed with the outcome with Electric Picnic. I think a lot of people were looking forward to that and there didn’t seem to be a lot of dialogue before the decision.”
He said Electric Picnic’s plan to restrict entry to fully vaccinated people should have been given more consideration.
“That is a reasonably belts and braces attitude to entry criteria,” he said. “It is robust so I think it is very unfair and hopefully it will be revisited very soon.”
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