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IOM Bay Festival 2010

He lost hundreds of thousands of pounds and then found himself embroiled in a dispute with the former Tourism Minister. Why then, would Jonathan Irving, the organiser of the Peel Bay Festival 2007 decide to make a come back in 2010?

It was the biggest pop festival the Isle of Man has ever seen, featuring some of the largest names in the music industry.

Madness perform at the Peel Bay Festival 2007

McFly, The Who, Bonnie Tyler, Ronan Keating and Madness were just some of the artists who graced the stage in Europe’s largest festival black-out tent back in 2007.

Despite bringing in an audience of around 30,000 people over seven days, the Peel Bay Festival lost organisers a huge amount of money. In 2010 Jonathon Irving says he will be running the event with his head and not his heart.

Europe's largest festival black-out tent

“I did lose an awful lot of money in 2007 but it would only be a true loss if I never did it again. I feel that I have an opportunity to turn it all around and produce a break- even position next time. If I can achieve that then maybe I will be able to make this into an annual event.

“I learnt a lot of lessons back in 2007 and I will not be repeating any mistakes. I am pretty convinced that by simply moving the event to Douglas I will have a sporting chance of breaking even.”

“In the past I had a difference of opinion with the previous Minister for Tourism but the current Minister, Martyn Quayle is extremely supportive.

"I did lose an awful lot of money in 2007 but it would only be a true loss if I never did it again. "
Jonathan Irving

“I will be making decisions from the head this time but that does not mean the heart will be surgically removed. At the Peel Bay Festival 2 years ago I made a heart decision which I will never regret.

"I was told that only 20 youngsters would be able to meet McFly. When I saw all the other kids looking so disappointed I couldn't just stand by. In the end we let 65 children in despite huge pressures on time. That was probably one of the highlights of the whole festival, seeing the excitement on those kids’ faces. If I had a re-run of that night, I wouldn’t change a thing. “

Instead of running for seven nights next year's festival will be restricted to three and Jonathan Irving wants the Isle of Man Bay Festival to be a “feel-good” event.

“We want every body in the Isle of Man to get behind the festival and feel that they are a part of it. There is a lot of bad news around at the moment, I would like for this festival to be something we can all look forward to.”

Each night will focus on a different genre and organisers are promising musicians of the highest calibre although details of the line up have not yet been revealed.

The Who perform at the Peel Bay Festival 2007

“We are going to be bringing major A list artists right to the heart of the Isle of Man. The ticket fee will be similar to what you would pay in the UK but of course no one will have to travel on the boat or plane to get there.”

More information about the festival will be revealed towards the end of May.

last updated: 30/04/2009 at 07:35
created: 30/04/2009

Have Your Say

What is your reaction to the news?

EsK
Glass up to J Irving. People dont seem to think about the "behind the scenes" action that is involved in making this happen.. yes a few hiccups here and there but i think the fact that someone is actually doing something to make an event deserves an applaud! im sure with time it will become better and better with time. Whats a few teething problems. :)

clairee
yeah it should be good hope good bands and singers come:), i think it will be better to have it in douglas cause more people can get there than they could to peel :) BRING ON TT 2010 BAY FESTIVAL :D x

Rebecca
The sticks of douglas??? Better than Peel. And you cant get to Douglas from Peel.. This is not England. Thats just lazyness

Nat Smith
good good i think it is really great;)

Becky
It should be in peel a good community area not in the sticks of Dou-glass Irvin did a marvelous job last year CLAP CLAP to him the girls at the bay tree and me arent to happy about this we cant get to the stick of DOU-GLASS what a kerfuffle GO IRVINg!!

sandra
Great news!the T.T. should be a proper festival with plenty to do for everyone. Its a long hard winter over here and we all deserve some fun during the summer months. The T.T. should have more activities/festivities. I felt embarrassed at the lack of enthusiasm shown by the Government this year. If we are going to party....LETS PARTY!!!!!

Paul
Good news!I think the government should support it, it will be like them making up for the all the times i have been late for work from being stuck in a traffic jam while the government dicide to dig up a section of the road.

Patrick Gandy
Shear Genius

Pete J
Mr Irving you are a legend! I had a fantastic night watching madness on mad Sunday 2010! It was great to watch a concert ion the isle of man that didn't involve the villa marina! I'm really looking forward:-)

Joanna
Oh he's all heart letting 65 kids see mcFly. What about the dozens of kids who were involved in "Like the Wind", the Arts Council project which the Peel Bay festival pulled the plug on half way through? He didnt mind seeing the disappointment on THOSE young faces, despite the weeks and weeks of preparation they had gone through!

The Gull
Good news! The recent Kaiser Chiefs ticket scrumdown shows the demand for such an event providing the artists are right.

linda K
Great News but I wish it was going ahead in Peel and not Douglas. What is it with us Manxies that driving for 20 minutes in a car is too much trouble? I'd have travelled to London to see Madness, I would happily get a bus to see a decent gig.

Juan
Great News for us and bad news for Johnathan Irving's bank manager. I hope he'll at least get free tickets.

Monica Kettlewell
Great news!We had a family reunion to see The Who. 3 sisters IOM,UK,USA. Looking forward to the announcement for 2010. More fun. Go for it. You only get one life.

Damien G
The fact that the festival was held during TT week 2007 was the reason it didn't do well. Hardly anybody from the races came to see the bands. It sounds like a much better plan to target just the people who live here. They are the ones who you need to please, they are the ones who will vote with their feet.

Dan
looking forward to hearing more information. I am Manx and will reserve judgement until the plans are firmed up. It could be good and it could be another unmitigated disaster.

Ged
Don't get it. If I lost that amount of money I don't think I'd be putting my head on the slab again.

Peter, Kirk Michael
Nice to get some good news among all the doom and gloom that is around at the moment. Looking forward to a festival which is NOT about motorbikes.

Eggy face
I was at almost every single gig in 2007. It was fantastic and I had to pinch myself to believe I was actually on THE ISLE OF MAN!!! And not a Status Quo member in sight.

Elaine
Yeeeehaaah. I'm so pleased I could cry. Wish it was happening this year though.

Lottie
I'm really suprised this is happening again. I'm pleased but really suprised. Irving was given such a hard time by the Government last time round I thought he had thrown his hands up in the air and given up. I would have done. maybe the Government will see how important these kinds of events are for people in the Isle of Man. We do not want to see greasy biker groups during TT week, we want to see decent bands who are contempory not ones who had a hit sometime in the 60s and were never heard of again.

Liam
Maybe the Island's Government will chose to support Irving this time. After all it's about bringing quality of life to local people. We are for the most part held hostage on this Island because of the ridiculous prices charged by the airlines and boat company so brillinat that the bands will come to us instead of us having to remortgage our homes to travel to the UK. I'm really please and I will support the event, (if the bands are any good of course)

Justine Switch
Praise Be!! It takes people like this to make things happen on the Isle of Man but the fact he is doing it despite the Government instead of with help from the Government is such a shame.

Dawn Raddler
Really looking forward to it but I want to know which bands are coming over. please don't sink to the IOM Government level of White Snake.

Steve Ramsey
Nerves of steel. Well done Jonothan.

Elsie
I'm thrilled. Bring it on Irving!

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