Dance music festival on farm near Chipping Sodbury given green light

A NEW dance music festival north of Chipping Sodbury has been granted a premises licence, allowing the event to come back each summer.

Nowadaze will run from July 17 to 20 with a wide range of genres and “affordable” ticket prices.

The festival’s organisers, Pow Soundz Ltd, were given the licence by South Gloucestershire Council during a licensing hearing in February.

But people living nearby complained to the council about the “unbearably loud” events that have previously happened on the site.

The festival is held on Oxwick Farm, between Chipping Sodbury and Wickwar, which has also been used for other events.

Council staff said it was unclear whether the complaints from neighbours related to other events, or the previous two times that Nowadaze was hosted there under temporary event notices.

Speaking at the hearing, Matt Davies, Nowadaze organiser, said: “Our aim is to create a festival experience with high quality production, a friendly community and inclusive pricing.

“Over the course of two full days and nights, attendees will get to experience a range of live music, DJs, educational talks, creative activities and fantastic food.

“Having run Nowadaze for two years at Oxwick Farm, we’re continuing to fine-tune our noise management and public safety measures.

“We fully acknowledge objections and complaints made against this application.

“We want to demonstrate that the concerns will be listened to and that we can meet the requirements to remediate them.

“While other events at the site have proven to impact the public, our current track-record demonstrates our ability to run a well-organised event with minimal nuisance.”

The music will go on until 2am on Friday and Saturday night, and the event will be capped at 1,000 ticket holders.

The festival will be held on a 20-acre farm off Wickwar Road. Several neighbours wrote to the council objecting to the application, however none attended the hearing to speak about their concerns.

One neighbour said: “The last festival they ran was unbearably loud and lasted all day until the early hours. This venue is far too close to residential properties and shatters our peace and tranquillity.”

Another said: “The music is loud and does not stop until the very early hours. It’s ruined past weekends by keeping my young family up, and I am completely helpless to do anything about it.”

Granting a premises licence means the festival can come back each year, without having to apply for a temporary event notice each time.

A licence also means the council and police can better monitor the festival, checking on issues like noise levels and litter.

Chairing the hearing, Chris Davies (Lib Dem, Thornbury) said: “The landowner has let the land for several events, which were organised by various individuals and companies.

“The objections didn’t necessarily relate to the events organised by Pow Soundz Ltd.”

By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service