News

Beeston music festival could be cancelled after rejected temporary licenses

By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter

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A music festival is at risk of being cancelled after an application for its temporary entertainment and alcohol licence was rejected by a council.

Broxtowe Borough Council’s licensing and appeals panel met today (July 8) to deicide on two temporary event notices (TENs) for Beeston Music Festival which is due to be held at Trent Vale Recreation Ground on August 9, 2025.

The festival is set to host a number of musical tribute acts, including ABBA, Arctic Monkeys and Oasis.

Applicant Peter Levey applied to the council for a TEN – which permits licensable activities such as alcohol sales and entertainment for a limited time – between 11:30am until 10pm and another for alcohol from 11:30am until 10pm at the festival.

This is the second year for the festival, with the 2024 event previously running on these two temporary notices, which are often used for small-scale or one-off events to cover entertainment

But the notices were rejected by the licensing panel after Nottinghamshire Police’s concerns over the prevention of crime and disorder and Environmental Health’s concerns for public safety at the event.

Speaking in the meeting a representative for Nottinghamshire Police pointed out that TENs allow for events with 499 people or less in a specified area, with a police representative stating “there wasn’t clearly defined” areas covered by the two TENs, with attendance numbers being potentially “a lot higher” with ticket sales.

They added that there were concerns the areas covered by the temporary notices would supposedly be “roped off”.

A representative for the applicant said they were expecting about 1,200 people to attend the festival, that attendee numbers fluctuate throughout the event and that they operate a “click-in-click-out system” would monitor numbers in temporary notice areas.

They also maintained the word “roped” that had featured in licensing documents was misunderstood and that fencing would feature around the stage area to promote public order and safety.

The police’s preference for the festival was for the event to run off a full premises licence.

However, an application for a premises licence for the site, submitted by a sports club, was only submitted in the past week – meaning it may not get approved in time for the festival.

A spokesperson for the festival said: “It would be a shame if the event doesn’t go ahead, with Councillor Greg Marshall (Brox Alliance) supporting it as well – asking us to come back – and we’ve come back to objections and hearings. We’re just trying to run the event the same way we did last year.

“We have applied for the premises license as a backup but I’m not sure if it will be here in time, so if the event may have to get cancelled, it’ll be cancelled.”

About 580 tickets had already been sold for the event.

The applicant and its representatives declined to comment on the rejection following the meeting.