Godiva Festival not insured against cancellation

Thousands did pack into Memorial Park on Sunday - but only to welcome the Olympic Torch after the Godiva Festival was cancelled.

THE Godiva Festival will remain at War Memorial Park, but will not be insured against cancellation.

Sixty two per cent of the 21,000 people who voted said they did not want to see it relocated to the city centre.

Last year the festival, which attracts over 100,000 visitors to the city, was cancelled for the first time in its 15-year history due to poor weather conditions.

We reported last summer how that cost the council £450,000, but they have decided not to cover themselves against a possible repeat.

A spokesman told us this week: "We take out public liability insurance for large events like Godiva – as we did last year - but we don’t take out insurance against any cancellation of the festival due to weather.

“It's very expensive and incredibly prescriptive, depending on very detailed timings of rainfall and conditions.

“On what was lost because of the cancellation, the actual cost of putting on the event was around £300,000 and that money was committed to be spent anyway.”

Plans for the Godiva Carnival on a different weekend to the festival and more events in the city centre such as a beer festival and a global market were revealed after the public vote result was announced last Friday.

Council leader John Mutton said: "The festival stays where it belongs, in the park, but we’ve got a strong message from residents about the importance of bringing great events to Coventry and we want to make sure we develop these plans over the coming months."

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