Ancient land laws spark hunt for new Spice Festival venue

Monday 16 January 2017

The organisers of a popular local festival were “saddened” to learn they would have to find a new location, after being told to leave by one of Jersey’s most antiquated authorities.

Bianca Padidar and Sarah Jordan, heads of Spice Arts and Music Festival, learned last week that they would no longer be able to use Grouville Common – the event’s home of four years – after a message from the Chefs Tenants du Fief de La Reine.

The feudal body’s authority over the land stretches back to the Middle Ages, and means that they can give - and take away – permission to use common land at will.

According to Ms Padidar, the event had never encountered any major problems with the Chefs, but that a clash of tradition versus health and safety may have provoked the revocation of rights.

She told Express: “We were aware that the Grouville Chefs Tenants were unhappy about some issue this year due to using barriers around the grounds, which in their eyes restricted the public’s access.

“This relates to an ancient law that means that common land needs public right of way. The barriers are essential for our event for health and safety, trip hazards, and insurance approval. Spice is a free event therefore the public are allowed to freely walk on the grounds.”

Since losing the Common, Ms Padidar explained that both she and her co-organiser were, “…saddened by the decision made by the tenants,” as they had, “…put a lot of time and energy” into creating the weekend-long September event.

“There are few events held in the East of the Island, [and] Gorey fitted with the feel of how we want the event to be – a family friendly community event,” she added.

Now the Spice Team are appealing to islanders for suggestions as to new locations, and say they have already received “an incredible response.”

An ideal new location, they say, would, “…retain the ‘country village’ feel” of their previous yurt-decorated offerings.

“We would certainly need a considerable amount of parking. Safety is paramount so [we want] somewhere we could enclose so that our visitors, families with children in particular feel they are able to walk freely around the site.”

However, given Spice’s charity status – and the fact that entry is free - they’re contending with a tight budget, with the sole aim of providing an affordable platform for local talents.

“We are a registered charity and we personally don't take any financial award from [Spice Festival]… Unfortunately, we do not have a commercial sponsor so overheads need to be kept to a minimum. Hiring an expensive venue just wouldn't be possible.”

“Of course we'd love to find somewhere that is affordable, as we'd like to be able to keep Spice free - or certainly as cheap as we can - so that our visitors are able to continue to enjoy all that Spice has to offer without it costing them too much.”

For more information about Spice Arts and Music Festival or to submit your venue ideas, visit the event Facebook page.