A NEW comedy festival which was advertised to take place at Maldon's Promenade Park this Friday will be relocated.

This news comes after Maldon District Council issued a statement saying the event organiser did not have 'required permissions' for the event to take place in Promenade Park.

A spokesman said: “Maldon District Council appreciates the difficulties facing the Events Industry as they begin to adapt to new social conditions, as we emerge from lockdown and Covid restrictions are eased.

"Whilst this has made planning large scale events difficult, event organisers are still required to take all practicable steps to ensure their events are safe for the public, their staff and contractors.

"As such, all large scale public events are scrutinised by the Maldon Districts Safety Advisory Group, made up of the Police, Essex Ambulance and Council safety advisors, whose focus it is to review the Event Organisers plans and provide advice and support.

"The event organiser does not have any of the required permissions for this event to take place in Promenade Park despite selling tickets."

The district council say their safety advisory group has 'repeatedly' requested information from the organiser about EssexFest, as "a number of important documents remain outstanding or fail to provide the necessary assurance of safety for those frequenting or working at the event".

The statement added: "Anyone who has ticketing enquiries should contact the event organiser on 0203 603 7923 or email info@essexfest.co.uk.”

In a statement on Facebook, an EssexFest spokesman said: "It is with deep regret that due to the current climate and issues beyond our control the Essex Comedy Festival on Friday, August 20 will be relocated and no longer held at Maldon Promenade Park.

"We will be relocating the festival to a new site and all ticket holders will be notified of the new address within the next few hours.

"Our industry has been hit so hard and we would ask you to support us by joining us at the new venue.

"We thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you on Friday."

They added: "Full details will be released at 6pm tonight."

The event is set to feature seven headline comedians including Frankie Boyle, Sara Pascoe, Milton Jones, Shappi Khorsandi, Andrew Maxwell, Simon Brodkin, and Glenn Wool. 

For more information go to facebook.com/essexfestoffical.

Update 17/08 18:00: The event has been postponed and a new date and venue is being organised.

An EssexFest spokesman said: "It is with deep regret that due to the current climate and issues beyond our control the Essex Comedy Festival on Friday is postponed and will be rescheduled to a new date.

"We tried to relocate the venue but it was too short notice in a pandemic to apply for a premises licence to serve alcohol as we wanted to provide a full package for spectators to enjoy.

"This is devastating not only to us but to you too especially as we’ve all waited so long to finally get back together. We have been working with our artists, suppliers and partners to deliver a spectacular comedy event with headline comedians and we share your disappointment.

"While this has been hard to process we want to commit now to create an even bigger comedy festival and we can now confirm the event will be rescheduled to a new date and venue in close proximity which will be confirmed in the next coming days.

"The events industry has been hit so hard and we would ask you to please support us and the comedians by joining us in 2022 as all tickets will automatically be rolled over.

"Once again we apologise but the events that have happened are beyond our control."