Police have called for an earlier finish to the first outdoor Irish music festival to be held in Liverpool for nearly a decade.
The Fields of Eire event at Newsham Park is due to be held over the first weekend in June.
But both Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council’s own environmental health team have objected to the bid to sell alcohol until 23:30 GMT and to play live and recorded music until midnight over concerns about what police described as a late night “mass exodus” of up to 5,000 people into nearby residential areas.
Organisers Fields of Eire Ltd said there was a “slight disagreement” but that it “expected to win at the hearing”.
The event is billed as the first of its kind since 2018, and is due to see 39 acts perform over the weekend of 5 and 6 June.
It will “celebrate the deep cultural bond between Ireland and Liverpool through music, dance, food and community” and include “lively céilí and folk anthems, contemporary Irish pop and rock”.
But in its representation to licensing chiefs, Merseyside Police it objected to the hours because “there is reason to believe that allowing up to 5,000 people to leave a site all together will increase the likelihood of crime and disorder”.
It added it feared loud music and late alcohol sales would “contribute to anti-social behaviour and complaints from residents by disturbing the peace after an acceptable time of night”.
Police said they wanted alcohol sales to end at 21:30 and “all music / dance” to finish at 22:00, with everyone off-site by 23:00.
Noise
Environmental health officers added that there would be “significant noise disturbance to nearby residents, the nearest of whom are approximately 100 metres from the proposed event site at Newsham Park”.
They also said the open layout of the park meant there were few natural noise barriers, and that no noise management plan had been submitted yet.
Fields of Eire Ltd said: “We are conducting a Noise Managenent Plan to mitigate all risks and we expect to win at the hearing.”
The licensing committee is due to consider the application on 25 March.
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