With regards to the ' Battle Of Th Bands' competition, they will have an very unexpected and expensive problem on there hands.
All of the bands that have performed previously on the Carole Nash by ELS Bushys stage ( long name, but it is what it is) have been local.
There is a petition started to get all local bands to boycott the Hooded Ram stage for two reasons. The first is in support of Bushys ( and quite a few of previous played bands have confirmed that they will boycott) and the second is the format of a Battle Of The Bands means that they dont normally get paid to play. So, they are going to have to pay a lot of money ( Hotels, ferrys etc ) to get some decent bands from this side of the water, or end up with a stage full of inexperienced local bands, which brings me to the next ( huge ) expense, the stage itself.
In the last few years, the stage and all the lighting, sound, and operation has been provided by local company ELS. They are the ONLY company on the Island that have these facility's, and for anyone that has taken any notice of what is on stage, there is about £200,000 of gear.
ELS have also committed there support for Martin and Bushys, and wont under any circumstances be providing anything for Hooded Ram.
Hooded Ram are going to sh*t themselves when they find out how much it will cost them to bring over an identical facility that ELS provide.
All this 'Artisan food' baloney is just aimed to same people who have promoted the whole VIP package that the DED provide. I cant see them venturing down to Douglas Prom, walking through the fair and all the local 'yoof' to get to there 'artisan' destination.
There has previously been another beer tent on the prom opposite the Villa, and that didnt work even with all the entertainment and road closures put in front of it.
I can see another Vision 9 debacle coming down the ( Tram) tracks ( sorry, could not resist that one)