• 5 months ago
Lytham local Peter Taylor co-founded Lytham Festival alongside his friend Daniel Cuffe back in 2010 when the pair - known collectively as the event promoters Cuffe & Taylor - ran its forerunner, the first Lytham Proms.
Transcript
00:00I'm very excited. It's like the same again in a way, because we've been doing it for so many years.
00:08I'm always very nervous about it because this is my hometown, so there's a lot riding on it.
00:15I'm most excited about the Cortinas because they were one of the second or third bands that I ever promoted.
00:23I did a concert with them in Hay Hall in Wigan many years ago, and they were just on their way up.
00:32We've tried to get them here every year, and then they've been like,
00:35oh no, we're doing Heaton Park, or we're doing the Stadium, or it's just never worked out.
00:40So this year, the stars aligned. I've been asking them to come every year since we started, so I'm excited for that.
00:49And obviously Shania Twain as well, because she's an international legend.
00:54I've always said the event will be what the people make it, really.
01:00It's grown because people have bought the tickets, and more people have come every year.
01:06That's been a challenge. A few years ago, we were kind of the victims of our own success.
01:14But we got to 25,000 last year. We did it, we tried it, and it worked.
01:18So we've kind of said, right, 25,000 is a nice number, it feels nice, it's worked, we can do it safely.
01:24So yeah, it'll be pretty special.
01:27We've had a bit of criticism, I'd say, over the last three or four years about resident issues, parking.
01:35It's always the main parking and traffic, and disruption to residents' lives.
01:39So we've really had to put a lot of effort into that, I would say, to make it better, because I'll admit it wasn't right.
01:49I'm from the area, so I know a lot of the people, I know a lot of the residents.
01:55So it was important for me. This year we've got our resident liaison team who are doing a great job.
02:03And often, what I'm seeing now, we've got a team dedicated to it.
02:08It's very minor things that actually we can just sort out very quickly, and then it doesn't manifest into a bigger issue.
02:15And we've got a resident focus group now, so we've got actual residents that kind of help us shape the traffic,
02:23and where we're going to put cones, or they know that down that street there's a problem.
02:30We've done a lot of work on it, still a lot more to do. People give us feedback, which is great.
02:38But things like today, we have the residents having a look around the site, because then they can just talk to me directly as well, which is really good.
02:47Because I can often help very quickly, or answer the questions, or almost explain to people why the path's closed.
02:59Because people think, why's the path closed? And you come and show them why the path's closed, and they're like, ah right, I understand why the path's closed.
03:05I can see it now. So I think it's very important.
03:09You can't deny we're going to have over 100,000 people here this week.
03:13I'm not tempting fate, I'm hoping they're all going to have a good time.
03:16But in the past, like I've said always, if the people come, we'll keep putting the festival on.
03:23They keep buying the tickets, keep coming.
03:26And it's hard every year, the expectations go up and up.
03:30The first year we had Status Quo, and Status Quo were a fantastic band.
03:35But I think if I said Status Quo now, everyone's like, well where's Bruce Springsteen, where's Bon Jovi?
03:40So every year the expectation at the festival, and it's kind of worth internationally now.
03:46It's known internationally.
03:48We're kind of, yeah, big expectations, but we're very proud of it.
03:53Oh well, listen, I've just said you're there.
03:56Springsteen, Bon Jovi, take that.
03:58I've said over the years, and we do Coldplay from the weekend at Glastonbury.
04:06There's so many acts that I always think, oh, we're going to run out of acts to perform.
04:12But then new acts are coming, like Hosier this year.
04:15People thought, what have we done?
04:20But Hosier, his old Finsbury Park in London, he's doing a huge gig at Glasgow Green.
04:27He's coming to Lytham.
04:28He's not going to Manchester, he's not going to Liverpool, he's not going to Leeds.
04:30He's coming to Lytham, and I think that really helps us in future years.
04:34Secure not just established talent, but also up-and-coming talent that are exciting.
04:40This week we've got two people that have had James and Hosier have had number one albums and singles in the UK charts.
04:48So we can't get more current than that.

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