Lionel Richie York music festival must keep noise down Published duration 28 February

image copyright Getty Images image caption Festival headliner Lionel Richie will have to keep the noise down

A music festival featuring Lionel Richie can go ahead as long as it keeps the noise down.

The event, which also features Westlife and Madness, will take place at York Sports Club in Clifton Park in June.

Organisers have already sold 17,000 tickets for the three-day event.

Council officers said the planned noise level of 75 decibels was too high and must be reduced. They said no venue in the city had been given permission to play above 65 decibels.

"We are not against the holding of a music festival but our approach has to remain in protecting the public from public nuisance," Michael Golightly from the council, told a licensing committee hearing.

"This venue is not an arena with all the associated infrastructure. The difference of 10 decibels is a perceived doubling of the noise."

Phil Crier, representing the festival organisers, said: "This is not for Iron Maiden or Motorhead - it's for Westlife, Madness and, for goodness' sake, Lionel Richie."

Promoters Livenation, who also brought Rod Stewart to York Racecourse in 2019, hope the festival will become an annual event, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillors granted them a one-year licence for the event subject to noise levels being at 65 decibels or below.

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Related Topics Music festivals

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