Don Quinn paints a very colourful picture of the alleged "gazumping" of his Medieval fair by Colchester Amphora Trading in favour of a Craig David concert (Gazette, November 28). However, it is important to clarify some of the key elements of the story.

Firstly, there was no contractual agreement between either Colchester Amphora Trading or Colchester Council and Mr Quinn’s company for the festival.

READ MORE: Craig David bumps Colchester Medieval Fayre off June Castle Park date

However, we have met with Mr Quinn and agreed dates for his festivals, and he was informed his preferred date for his Medieval Festival was not available.

We are pleased to have added the Medieval festival to the programme of events at Castle Park for 2019, in addition to Mr Quinn’s other festival, the Colchester Food and Drink Festival, which was agreed to be held on the dates of his choice.

The claim that only 5,000 will be able to be able to attend Craig David is totally inaccurate.

As we informed the Gazette last week the event is licensed for up to 14,999 customers, as per the new Castle Park license terms.

I also want to make clear that despite Mr Quinn’s claims, it is not true that Amphora could have booked this act easily on other dates and other more prestigious acts were available for other Saturdays and Sundays throughout the season.

We are committed to bringing entertainment for all ages and tastes to Colchester.

In attracting acts like Craig David while still supporting the Colchester Food and Drink Festival and similar cultural events, we believe we are achieving this aim.

The excitement that has been generated following the announcement of the Craig David concert seems to also support this.

Adrian Pritchard
Managing director of Colchester Commercial (Holdings) Ltd

Editor's note: We have asked Colchester Council and the Craig David concert organisers how many tickets are available for the event but the figure has not been volunteered to do commercial sensitivity.

A spokesperson for the promoters confirmed 'thousands', rather than 'tens of thousands' of tickets will be released.