Aiken ‘not sure’ on Marquee future
The promoter behind Live at the Marquee has admitted he doesn’t know if the long-running concert series will return next year.
Concert promoter Peter Aiken has said he is unsure whether or not this year may be the final edition of the festival, which is in its 15th year.
Although he was not present at the official launch of Live at the Marquee 2019 in Cork yesterday, Aiken spoke to the Cork Independent and said he was still waiting to find out the fate of next year’s event.
The festival’s site in the docklands was sold to Dublin property development company Glenveagh Properties PLC last July.
“We might get another year out of it. I’m not sure. Building hasn’t started and these things often take a while,” Aiken said.
“I certainly hope we’ll be there again, but I don’t know yet.”
While there is speculation that the Curraheen Showgrounds has been examined as a possible alternate location for the festival if it can no longer take place at its current home, Aiken said the success of the festival so far had been “unbelievable”.
“It’s been great from day one, I think we’ve had over 200 concerts there since the start. If you’d have told me that we’d have all that in a tent in a car park, I think this year over 1.2 million people will have gone to a gig there.”
Live at the Marquee began in 2005 in the Cork Showgrounds. It relocated to its current site in the docklands in 2007, and has housed acts such as Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Lou Reed, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, The Who, The Prodigy and Biffy Clyro.
Tickets for Live at the Marquee 2019 are on sale now from ticketmaster.ie.