Gozo party gets 4am clearance as Gianpula Fields ordered 2am limit
Karl Stagno-Navarra
While a government-sponsored, open-air music event in Gozo planned for next week has been given the green light from the police to play music until 4am, the popular music festival Creamfields at Gianpula Fields has been ordered to change its traditional closing time from 4am to 2am.
Creamfields will be held on the night of the feast of Santa Marija on 15 August, where the island will be alight with some half-a-dozen firework and petard displays from towns and villages, until the early hours of the next day.
The owners of Gianpula Fields have said the new closing time was discriminatory, adding that their police application had already been processed with very clear demands on the noise levels.
These demands were accepted by Gianpula’s owners, and confirmed by their sound expert Chris Calleja. The owners said that earlier this year, the club had invested in new technology to reduce sound levels originating from the open-air venue.
Speaking to MaltaToday, Gianpula director Matthew de Giorgio said: “Stopping the party at 2am is financially unsustainable, in view of the demands of people who attend parties late at night.”
De Giorgio said Creamfields would still attract thousands and would go on within the Gianpula discotheque between 2am and 4am.
De Giorgio explained that Gianpula Fields has already been granted one-off licenses for events until 4am since 2005.
And similar one-off licences were also granted recently until 4am by the police at the Malta Fairs Convention Centre in Ta’ Qali, which hosted world renowned DJ Tiesto, and also the government sponsored Popeye Village music festival on 4 July, as part of MTV week.
The upcoming Gozo Music Festival to be held on August 23 in Victoria Gozo, located close to large residential areas, is being held under the patronage of the Ministry for Gozo with sponsorship from the National Good Causes Fund and the Malta Tourism Authority, and has been granted a license for the event to go on until 4am.
“This is blatant discrimination,” Matthew de Giorgio said, adding that Gianpula Fields is the venue that is the furthest away from any residential area on the island.
“Gianpula Fields are located 1,240 metres away from the nearest residence, and even the police in Rabat have appreciated that the efforts made by the company through the services of sound engineer Chris Calleja, have ensured that sound levels generated from the area are far less than previous years,” he said.
During yesterday’s court sitting, it transpired that the Gianpula director was only informed about the change in the closing time a mere 14 days before the event, without the authorities taking into consideration the serious financial implications behind such a decision.
Matthew de Giorgio explained the planning for the music festival started last January and formal permit applications were submitted in April.
World-renowned music event organisers Cream have already expressed their disappointment, which is likely to have serious consequences on attracting further youth tourism to Malta.
The organisers have also faced with a petition that was circulated by Rabat’s Dominican Order, allegedly acting in the name of local residents. The petition is a first for the Dominican friars, who have not been to ever organise a parish-based petition.
Dominican friars were reportedly telling their congregations during mass last Saturday and Sunday to sign the petition that had to be forwarded to the police in a bid to restrain the permit.
Contacted by MaltaToday, Dominican provincial Fr Paul Gatt admitted that his community was behind the petition and said that he “acted in the interest of the Rabat community.”
Reacting to this, Matthew de Giorgio expressed his amazement at such a petition initiated by a religious order, saying this went far beyond the Church’s pastoral mission. Yesterday, a court presided by Judge JR Micallef ruled that there was no urgency for the application to extend opening hours to be heard, and postponed the case until September.
Gianpula has now reapplied with the police to have the permit for the hosting of the Creamfields festival valid until 4am. The owners said that they were willing to accept any demands by the authorities on the required noise levels.
The new application is an attempt at reaching an acceptable compromise, that will allow the party to go on until 4am while keeping sound at an acceptable level for the authorities, but reasonable for festival-goers.
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