TRNSMT organiser, Geoff Ellis, slammed new tax proposals and threatened to take the festival elsewhere if Glasgow City Council enforce them.

Council chiefs have voted in favour of a ticket levy on all big outdoor entertainment events that would add an extra ÂŁ2.50 onto each ticket.

The levy would contribute to supporting the outdoor areas in which these events take place, despite organisers already paying substantial maintenance sums.

“I now have to decide whether to lead or follow.” Geoff commented, explaining that he, and other organisers, would seriously consider moving their events to another city. He called the proposed tax “well-meaning but ill-conceived”.

Glasgow City Council claimed the tax would raise £650,000 a year from events such as TRNSMT. A spokesperson from the council said: “The public has told us how much they value our green spaces and how they would like to see a more direct connection between the events we host, and income being invested back into our parks.”

“The environmental levy is about striking an appropriate balance between supporting our green spaces and using parks to host large events.” The spokesperson added.

Complaints were raised last year from local residents who lost nearly a month of access to the city green space when Bruno Mars followed TRNSMT festival, keeping the areas closed to the public for even longer.

Mr Ellis commented: “As long as they put this tax in place, Glasgow is going to suffer, and it will be to the benefit of other cities.”

Molly Hookings
Author: Molly Hookings

Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com