COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Over 20,000 people turned up for the first day of the Godiva Festival in Coventry’s War Memorial Park yesterday.



Organisers took to twitter to celebrate that a record number of people had turned up to the opening festivities on Friday June 4.

Last night saw Fun Lovin’ Criminals, King Phoenix and Slaves take to the stage to perform at the UK’s biggest free music festival.

Carl Bainbridge, Marketing and Design Manager at Coventry City Council, spoke with the Telegraph ahead of day two of the festival.

He said: “We’ve estimated that between 20,400 and 20,600 people came through the gates on Friday.

“It’s definitely the biggest crowd we’ve seen in the last five years. Some are even saying it’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever had.”

Carl added: “There’s always a mixture of nervousness and excitement around these things. But everything has gone to plan.

“We’re looking forward to tomorrow.

“We’re hoping for some great numbers. There’s lots for everyone to do.”

The hotly anticipated line up for Saturday includes Pulled Apart By Horses, Don Broco and headliners, The Wombats.

Home grown talents have been billed to perform alongside internationally famous acts, such as The Prophets, who will perform on the Main Stage at 1.30pm, and indie-rock band, The Deserts, who will perform at 12.20pm.

Godiva Festival is not just about the music. The family friendly festival has tonnes of attractions and stalls to visit.

The Family Field will be open today from noon until 5pm. Organisers have put on a children’s fun fair, stalls, a petting zoo and a zip wire.

Coun Abdul Khan, cabinet member with responsibility for events, previously spoke to the Telegraph about his hopes for this year’s festival.

He said: “A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure the event runs smoothly and I hope the weekend is blessed with good weather to encourage people to come out and support the festival.”

Regardless of the heavy thunderstorms that plagued the region in the early hours of this morning, forecasters have predicted that today’s weather should be sunny and dry.

Cutback council seeks Godiva backers



Coventry City Council is seeking sponsors to help it stage a 17-year-old free music festival that could be hit by funding cuts.

The Labour-run council, currently the main backer of the event, said there was "no ring-fenced budget" for it next year.

However, it said it recognised the event's "huge" benefit to the economy.

A council spokesman said it had made a "financial commitment" to ensure the festival would go ahead this year despite its event budget for 2015-2016 being cut by £300,000.

Last year's festival cost £465,000, with the council contributing £297,000. The balance of costs was met by sponsorship and earned income.

It was estimated the 2014 event generated £7.8m for the local economy, the spokesman said.

"However, with reductions across the council's budgets, including the events budget, the council cannot sustain its previous levels of investment in the festival," he said.

"Council officers are actively looking at a range of options to try and secure the future of the festival - whether through widening the range of sponsors and partners supporting the event, running the festival less frequently, or finding new ways to generate income."

Councillors approved plans to make £15m of cutbacks in February. A range of council services from street cleaning to parks maintenance were expected to be affected.

The council said its government grant for 2015 had been reduced to £135m, from £214m in 2010.