With just over a week to go until Rainbow Serpent is scheduled to kick off in Victoria, the festival looks to be on rocky ground, issuing a statement that it has not as yet been granted a Places of Public Entertainment (POPE) permit by the Pyrenees Council, which is necessary to in order for a festival to go ahead.
A second statement issued by the festival today reads that they have a meeting scheduled with the council at 4:30pm this afternoon and that they have "opened the door to reconsider the POPE permit application". You can read the full statement from Rainbow Serpent below. We're crossing our fingers and toes for you guys!
“Firstly we would like to say how absolutely devastated we are to find ourselves in the position of not yet having a POPE Permit for Rainbow Serpent Festival 2013. We say “yet” because we know that if council and authorities want to continue to support Rainbow and the very real benefit we bring to the local community there is still time for the permit to be granted. During the floods of 2011 our POPE permit was only granted a few days before the festival, once the site was deemed safe.
For those that don’t know, POPE stands for Places of Public Entertainment and is a permit that must be received to run events like Rainbow Serpent Festival. It is not unusual for a POPE permit to be granted during the final months or weeks prior to a large event.
This is the first time in 16 years the Pyrenees Council believe we have not met the conditions necessary to issue us a POPE permit, even though we strongly believe Rainbow 2013 would have been and still can be the best resourced and safest Rainbow to date.
For 2013 our medical and fire plans were reviewed to take on board suggestions and changes and our new plans were supported and endorsed by the authorities. Part of this review included a change of service providers with the intention of an improved level of service. However, due to the lateness of the change in providers Ambulance Victoria and Regional CFA expressed concern and a lack of confidence and withdrew their support for the festival. On these grounds council decided to not issue us the permit.
In light of this decision we immediately offered to revert back to our original fire and medical services providers which Regional CFA and Ambulance Victoria had worked with over many previous years. However, due to bureaucratic process, council and authorities are yet to express a willingness to reconsider their refusal to grant us the POPE permit.
Rainbow is obviously very important to the local Pyrenees community and provides an important cultural bridge between city and regional communities. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the local community for their continued support.
It is estimated that Rainbow Serpent Festival generates close to a million dollars annually for the local community. We believe this represents a million reasons for council and authorities to sit down at the table so we can work through their concerns together.
Obviously cancelling Rainbow one week before its scheduled to run will have catastrophic ramifications as many expenses have already been incurred. Construction on site is almost complete, artists are already travelling from around the globe and our amazing community has already invested in tickets and are preparing for departure, some are already on their way. Council and the authorities unwillingness to meet us at the table and reconsider their decision could very well mean the end of our festival and the many benefits it brings to those who attend and the Pyrenees community in general.
We are currently following through with appeal processes and will not give up in trying to reach out to the Pyrenees Council and authorities and hope with the support of our amazing, passionate community, the sculptures will be built, the lights will be turned on, the workshops will be held and we can once again dance together at our stunning home in Lexton.
You have our promise we will keep you well informed of any news and thank you for your understanding and patience.”
Second Statement:
“We have a council meeting scheduled for 4.30pm this afternoon! Council have opened the door to reconsider the POPE permit application. This is a great step! We now need Country Fire Authority, Victoria Police and most importantly Ambulance Victoria to show their support for our beautiful festival. We are confident we have the measures in place to provide a safe environment at Rainbow Serpent 2013. They just need to give it their approval.”
Via inthemix