Hopes to revive cancelled M-Fest

M-Fest, which was due to take place in Mirfield showgrounds in July, was cancelled last week after the event fell way short of the number of ticket pledges it needed to go ahead.

But organiser Donal O’Driscoll came out fighting this morning, saying he is hoping to resurrect the festival on a smaller site for the same weekend, June 20 and 21.

He said: “I was very disappointed it couldn’t go ahead on the showgrounds, but we are now looking at whether there is a smaller venue in the town where we can hold it.

“After all the hard work, and the cheap prices, I’d have thought we would have had more people come forward.”

Donal had been crowdfunding for the festival, needing around £14,000 in pledges to get it off the ground. However, he had only received pledges of around £5,500, forcing him to pull the plug on the event last week.

Since then he said he had been looking at two alternative venues and, though he kept tight lipped, he was hopeful something could be sorted out.

“I am waiting to hear back from a couple of potential venues,” he added. “There is one venue that I am hoping will work out, but the decision is someone else’s right now.”

“We want it to be on the same weekend because we still have all the acts booked.”

Donal went on to say how surprised local organisations such as Mirfield Town Council were reluctant to support the festival.

He added: “I think, because it is not what they are used to, and because they thought I wanted to draw a fee from it, that they thought this was a commercial operation and they were reluctant to give it their backing.

“But this is a not-for-profit organisation – if I get a fee, it is to cover all the time I have invested in organising it.”