Council chiefs to fill beer festival gap

OLDHAM Council is helping to organise a fund-raising event for the Mayor’s charities to make up for the loss of the Oldham Beer Festival.

As revealed in the Chronicle, a funding wrangle means the 24th festival won’t be able to take place in March, 2010, after the council removed its concessionary status. It’s not yet known if the festival will be brought back in the future.

But Oldham Mayor, Councillor Jim McArdle, is now set for talks with council chiefs and local charities for a new event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall to form the centrepiece of his final fund-raising activities for the Mayoral Year 2009/ 2010.

Beer festival organisers CAMRA were dismayed that the council backed a budget option that saw the event as a commercial venture and meant it would be charged rent for the use of the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Following negotiations with CAMRA and the Mayor, council officials offered a reduction in costs of more than £3,500 to the organisers, but CAMRA said the charge would still swallow up all the money that goes to charity.

Deputy council leader Jackie Stanton said: “Last year, the beer festival made around £6,000 for the Mayor’s Appeal.

“However, it cost Oldham Council around £12,000 to actually put the event on. We simply cannot sanction providing a subsidy of several thousand pounds to the event again.

“It would be simpler just to transfer money directly into the Mayor’s appeal fund. We are genuinely disappointed to have lost the beer festival booking, however, and want to place on record our thanks to CAMRA, and their volunteers, for their efforts in the past.

“We do sincerely hope to host this event again in the future.”