On Thursday 18 March Sir David urged the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to support event companies in restarting live events this year. It takes a lot of time, resources and money to plan and run live events, such as the Leigh Folk festival, Village Green, the Leigh regatta and Southend Carnival. These events need enough notice to safely start again.  

Sir David Amess said:

Southend is home to a number of brilliant local festivals, such as Leigh Folk festival, Village Green and the Leigh regatta. Sadly, it has been announced that Southend carnival has been cancelled for a second year in a row due to uncertainty surrounding any ongoing restrictions in the summer. Will my right hon. Friend reassure me that events planned for later in the year will be given plenty of notice of whether they will be allowed to go ahead?

Oliver Dowden replied:

I share my hon. Friend’s regret that Southend carnival is not going ahead. The Government will of course give as much notice as we can, and we have already set out a clear plan that will allow events such as that to return quickly and safely. We are working closely with our stakeholders to give them as much notice as we can and to guide them through each step. I can assure my hon. Friend that I am committed to getting people back to doing the things that they love as soon as we possibly can.