Swindon Caribbean food festival gets licence for next three years
The Taste of the Caribbean event will be held in the park in 2026 and 2027.
Jerk chicken, rice and peas and fried plantain will all be on the menu in GWR Park this summer- and very possibly for two summers after that.
The Taste of the Caribbean food and drink festival has been granted a licence for a one-day event this year, on May 24, and for events, possibly across a whole weekend, in the park in 2026 and 2027.
A three-councillor panel was convened to consider the licence application made by the organising company London-based S&A Entertainment Ltd.
An objection had been made to the application by a nearby resident, John Brennan, concerned about noise, specifically recorded and live music and particularly worried about the possibility of two-day events in the future.
The event organiser, Damien McClean told the committee: “This is not a music festival, this is not an event aimed at young people in particular.
“This is a food and drink festival aimed at families and those aged 35 to 70. The average age of people attending is 45.”
Asked about the music to be played at the festival by Councillor Simon Shelley, Mr McClean said: “There will be recorded music and live music, but mainly as background music – it’s there for people to have something to watch and listen to while enjoying the food on sale.
“Music will start at 10am, but it won’t be continuous, there’s be things like eating competitions and things like that.”
Mr Mclean tried to reassure both the councillors and Mr Brennan that noise would be managed properly: “We will have hourly monitoring on the noise levels at the perimeter of the park, and all nearby residents will have a phone number to call, and if they do we’ll go to their address and take a reading and be in contact with the production team and they’ll reduce the volume until it’s within the agreed acceptable levels.”
Mr Brennan said he had no objection to the food and drink festival at all, but was concerned that the cumulative effect of several festivals in GWR Park. He said: “There are already four other events already licensed in the park playing very loud amplified music.
“I think that no event should be allowed a licence for two days: a whole weekend of amplified music from the park is unreasonable.”
After a brief discussion, the councillors agreed to grant the licence for this year and the next two years, but told Mr McClean it could be amended, conditions added, or even revoked if there were significant issues this year.
The panel asked him to speak with St Mark’s church very near the park to try to avoid disrupting its morning service. Mr McClean agreed.