Jess Glynne – the biggest act scheduled to perform at Rochester’s Castle Concerts this year – has cancelled her performance, raising concerns about the financial viability of the Concerts for the second year in a row. 

Cllr Alex Paterson, Councillor for Rochester West and member of Medway Council’s Regeneration, Culture and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee said, ‘It’s really unfortunate that Jess Glynne has had to cancel her concert at Rochester Castle Gardens this summer, and while that’s really disappointing for people who bought tickets this summer for that event, what I’m really concerned about is the wider liability for Medway Council taxpayers.

‘We heard an awful lot when the Castle Concerts was announced that the Jess Glynne show was a sell-out but since then the silence has been deafening when it comes to reporting ticket sales for the other series of concerts at Rochester Castle Gardens, and last year Medway Council taxpayers subsidised the concerts to the tune of £305,000.

‘We were assured that was not going to happen again this news makes me really worried that we are going to face a very similar situation this year. It’s really important that Medway Council clarifies the situation as soon as possible.’

Cllr Andy Stamp, Councillor for Gillingham North and Medway Labour Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture said, ‘After making a substantial financial loss last year, the council needs to demonstrate that the Castle Concerts can be at least cost neutral for the council and council tax payers, particularly when Medway Council’s reserves are especially low and significant cuts have been made to frontline services.

‘If the council chooses to run the Castle Concerts in the future, they must take seriously the Medway Labour’s recommendation of securing significant sponsorship for this event in order to help mitigate the cost.’

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