Lack of harmony over festivals

ROW AS EVENTS WITHIN WEEK OF EACH OTHER

- OLIVIER VERGNAULT

A ROW is brewing in Looe after the announcement of a new music festival, which is set to take place around the same time of a popular free-toattend local event.

The Looe Weekender, a three-day free music festival, is scheduled to run from Friday to Sunday, September 19-21, next year, showcasing local talent across 10 venues.

However, it now faces a potential challenge as the Kernowfornia Festival has secured a licence to host a two-stage event on East Looe Beach from September 26-28.

The Kernowfornia event is the brainchild of a promotion manager who is also the lead singer in Liskeard band Haunt the Woods, who said it would be a showcase for local musics and that the two events could exist harmoniously together.

Organisers of the Looe Weekender said on Facebook: "We are extremely disappointed that permission was granted for this new festival to go ahead without consulting the local businesses that will be affected and the Looe community as a whole.

Especially given it is scheduled to take place just one week after the Looe Weekender's 2025 dates.

"The Looe Weekender group were invited to attend a meeting on October 14 to discuss the event, with the organisers, East Looe Town Trust and Looe Harbour Commissioners, at which our frustrations were expressed.