Beer festival where Hacienda DJ Graeme Park set to play REFUSED licence amid 'public urination' fear

Fears that too many people would turn up to a beer festival where Hacienda legend Graeme Park was set to DJ led to its cancellation.

The ‘Didsbury Craft Beer Festival’ was set to be held at Didsbury Sports Ground on Ford Lane on the late May bank holiday — from May 24 to 26 — but has been REFUSED a licence. Manchester City Council has also served a ‘counter notice’ to the organisers blocking it from going ahead.

It means the event, which was also set to feature performances from 90s electronic duo K Klass and ex-Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, will not be held. Organisers had not sold tickets for the festival yet, but had started marketing it on social media.

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Clive Smith, appearing at a licensing meeting on Monday (April 8) said they were hoping to raise money from the festival to help meet ‘costs going through the roof’ for Didsbury Toc H rugby club and Didsbury FC, which play at the ground. They will have to rethink their plans now, with Mr Smith telling the meeting the organisation was ‘trying to stay alive’.

“Nothing is set in stone for us,” he added at the licensing meeting. “If that means changing the acts or leaving this festival, that’s what we are happy to do.”

Both GMP and the council licensing officers objected to the Craft Beer Festival going ahead, which is not to be confused with ‘Didsbury Beer Festival’, which has been held annually for 11 years at St Catherine’s Community Centre.

Cops thought that there was a risk of ‘traffic chaos’ at the Ford Lane festival, which organisers said would be prevented by asking people to not use cars to get there. They also objected to the amount of toilets available — 25 loos for 460 ticket