Ta’ Qali National Park Chairman Jason Micallef said there was no way he could have anticipated the problems caused by some attendees of the Freedom Street Europe Festival.
“Last year, the same festival was held and it was a huge success – it was all smooth and there were none of these problems,” Mr Micallef tells WhosWho.mt.
“This was the exact same event, organised by the exact same Maltese event organiser. There was nothing to suggest that these problems would arise.”
Freedom Street Europe, a Caribbean music festival, was organised by Live Nation UK and its Maltese partners 356 Entertainment.
Events were spread across several areas, mainly the Ta’ Qali Concert Area and the UNO nightclub.
However, the festival was marred by scenes of partygoers attempting to force their way through barriers at UNO.
Separate footage also showed a number of festival goers jumping over the counter at KFC at Bay Street in the early hours of the morning, reportedly after complaining about long waiting times for food.
Tourism Minister Jo Etienne Abela condemned the incidents and Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield called for “more rigorous vetting of these kinds of events”.
Mr Micallef stressed that he wasn’t involved in the organisation of the festival and that he merely rented out the Ta’ Qali concert area.
However, he said that this year’s festival was smooth other than the chaotic scenes at UNO, which he said were handled promptly by organisers.
“They blocked hundreds of people involved in the chaos from attending the concert area and ended up cancelling the remaining parties,” he said.
Mr Micallef also cautioned against allowing these incidents to overshadow Malta’s event calendar.
“Malta just had a record summer for events and everything was smooth and seamless,” he said.
“Yes, there was an incident at this festival, and I’m not defending their actions at all. I find unacceptable.”
He compared the situation to Malta’s village feasts, arguing that isolated incidents can occur even at otherwise successful events.
“We have loads of beautiful village feasts, but fights break out at some of them, many of which go unreported.”
He said it it is too early to tell whether the concert will return to Malta next year.
Main Image:
