Owl Events, which runs the Guernsey Together festival, announced plans on Sunday to live-stream the semi-final against Argentina on the Crown Pier.
It has confirmed that an event was going ahead, but indoors in the Sir John Loveridge Hall at Beau Sejour after late obstacles emerged for an outdoor event.
‘We are naturally disappointed that the event cannot proceed at Crown Pier. A huge amount of work, time and expense went into the original proposal, and we genuinely did everything we could to respond to the concerns raised,’ said Owl Events’ Alex Lock.
‘It is frustrating that some of the key concerns were communicated so late, as this left us without enough time to redesign the event for another outdoor location. However, we respect the final decision and want to continue working closely and constructively with the authorities.’
Police were not content that they would have enough officers to cope with crowd control and Guernsey Ports was unhappy about the potential impact on visiting yachts.
‘When it became clear that Crown Pier could not proceed, cancelling the event would have been the easiest option, but we did not want to let everyone down,’ said Mr Lock.
‘We immediately began working on an alternative and have worked tirelessly, including throughout the night, to rebuild the event around Beau Sejour.
'We are incredibly grateful to Beau Sejour and everyone involved for helping us make this possible at such short notice.’
The new venue has even greater capacity than the pier zone, and extra tickets were made available for additional event-goers.
‘Moving indoors gives us an opportunity to create an even bigger atmosphere, with hundreds of England supporters together in one hall watching the match on the same large LED screen originally planned for Crown Pier,’ Mr Lock said.
‘We want every supporter to enjoy the experience at Beau Sejour and help create a brilliant atmosphere throughout the evening.’
Mr Lock also requested that all attendees keep the rowdiness to a minimum – or at least not to a maximum – and to follow any instructions given by the venue on the night.
‘We would love the opportunity to work with Beau Sejour on more events in the future, but that will depend in part on Wednesday’s event being delivered safely and responsibly. We are therefore asking all supporters to work with us and the venue, respect the facilities and help ensure the evening is remembered for the right reasons,’ he said.
The doors at the Sir John Loveridge Hall will be open from 5.30pm , ahead of the semi-final kick-off at 8pm.
All existing free Crown Pier tickets have been cancelled and holders were given priority access to claim replacement tickets from 5.30pm today (Tuesday). Any remaining free tickets were released to the general public at 6pm.
Go to www.owlevents.gg for more details.
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