Being serious for a moment, I think the problem with Odsal is that its capacity is a bit 'in between'.

There are plenty of Arena venues with 12-15K capacity, then the really big acts that can fill stadiums - the likes of Take That, Rolling Stones etc - tend to be looking at huge places like Wembley, Twickenham or Old Trafford. I'm not sure where a 25K capacity bowl with very little shelter from the elements fits into that.

From todays T&A they seem to be talking more about a festival - a 3 day event over the May Bank Holiday is mentioned - rather than one-offs with mega bands. That probably makes more sense - a whole bill of decent quality bands, five or six each day, sounds viable.

I only hope that they don't come up with a bill consisting of cheesy pop acts or hoary old 1960s acts with hardly any original members. Something like that - compared to the Leeds Festival, for example, would come off as really second-rate. The last thing we need is yet another thing that makes Bradford look like the poor relation of Leeds.

A festival is probably a good idea and there are plenty of 'genres' to go for and that would need careful thought. They do take time to build momentum in terms of attendance of course, so the first year, at least, definitely needs the odd 'top liner' as an attraction to build the crowds. Whether a top name act would go for an unknown festival is another thing though.

Just out of curiosity how many people attended Bingley Music Festival this year? Above or below 10,000?

Maybe something along those lines would fit in at Odsal?

There aren't many neighbours in the immediate vicinity to be fair, just the few houses between Odsal top and the stadium, then it's down to below the cricket club or some near the bottom corner of the ground down Rooley. I'd guess some free tickets might sort it out...

That said, I've got friends who live in Wibsey, not far from the Ancient Foresters, who say the noise on matchday is"deafening", so maybe the problem would be a bit more spread around. One thing is for sure you can't have a festival without a bit of noise - it would like opening a pub and not being able to sell any beer....

However, if the Council put us a huge domed roof right over Odsal, (retractable, of course) the sound will be contained, so problem solved! Simples.

You're deliberately trying to attract the attention of Bantam Menace, aren't you??

....and assorted Cougar fans.....

I agree that the market for a medium sized venue is very limited .
Someone mentioned Springsteen-- his British dates are already arranged for June and he plays at Wembley, Hampden Park and Coventry. The size of 2 of those stadiums shows the scale of the attendance a top line act can command. Tickets go on sale this Friday and (on past experience) all his gigs will be sold out by Saturday
A Festival would warrant careful consideration.Of the 2 bank holidays in May, we play the Rhinos at Odsal on Friday 3rd and are at Manchester at the end of May. So there's a problem with a potential clash with the main activity (rugby) on the first weekend (it takes a few days to set up stages, the field , sound) .
A festival of emerging talent rather than hoary old timers might just be the niche that could give the concept some individuality and set it apart from such as the Leeds Festival. Or why not try to attract some "world music"-- African /Asian /Caribbean /South American?

I used to live right next to Myrtle Park in Bingley. It sounded literally as if the bands were playing in your garden, even the sound checks. But it was never a problem, the music started & finished on time & never disturbed us at all. But Bingley has brilliant train links right over the road & space for camping.

This strikes me, as with the speedway gold mine, as something a lot more people would be doing if it was so easy to make money from.

Well, Odsal is well served by road, though parking when any festival goers arrive is likely to be a bit more problematical. Rail links would actually be decent, if they spent as much time getting on with building the station at Low Moor as they do talking about it, but I can't see that happening in the immediate future.

I think it might depend on whether they envisage a full festival, over a few days, or maybe more of a single one night concert. The one nighter does obviate the need for camping places and is something which might be repeated if it is successful, whereas a three day event is more of a one-off, once a year event. Both types would be at the mercy of the British weather though, and whilst I guess you can insure against making a big loss due to the weather I wouldn't like to see the size of premiums..

Tend to agree about 'gold mines', but it's really more a bit of chipping away at being viable; putting in small but (hopefully) regular amounts rather than looking for gold and to be honest it's good to see the management coming up with these ideas and even if some don't come to fruition, they are setting the bar and showing they mean business and as so many have said it makes a very refreshing change.

Might this be more likely to be a "Bollywood" style gig ??? Might help us attract some of the Asian Community to The Provident Stadium on a more regular basis ??? Just a thought

My concern about potential big-earners are they are also potential big-losers. A festival would be a massive gamble.

Presumably though we wouldn't organise it ourselves. I know they did on Emmerdale, but in real life wouldn't we do a deal with some outfit experienced in setting such events up, and we just take a share of revenues? Not such a gamble then.

Yes, but the reduced risk means less potential profit. It would, however, be a good indication of the viability of the idea if such an outfit was interested.

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Where's this going?