A THREE-day festival promising “some of the finest tribute bands in Europe” can go ahead after new licences were approved.

The Somerset Tribute Festival will be staged at the Yeovil Showground over the August bank holiday weekend, featuring tributes to Nirvana, Blondie, AC/DC and the Stereophonics among many others.

Both Avon & Somerset Constabulary and South Somerset District Council raised concerns about the event going ahead, resulting in a formal hearing being staged virtually last Monday (August 16).

The council has now ruled the festival will be able to proceed, so long as all relevant safety precautions and government advice are followed.

The festival will be staged over three distinctive areas within the Yeovil Showground, with camping passes and weekender tickets for all three days being made available for up to 500 attendees.

In addition to the live bands performing, the festival will include live DJ sets and a silent disco on both the Saturday and Sunday nights.

The event is being organised by Brett Ashworth of Yeovil-based firm Wizard Marquees and Events – which had to cancel this year’s Curry Rivel Live following police objections.

Alcohol will be available for patrols from noon until midnight on all three days, with recorded music from 6pm on the Friday (August 27) and live music from 12.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday (August 28-29).

The council’s licensing sub-committee primarily discussed the proposals in confidential session on Monday (August 16) to prevent “personal information” from being disclosed to the public.

Neither the public nor the council have published the list of conditions which they requested Mr Ashworth abide to in order for the event to proceed.

A council spokesperson said: “The licences for all three zones were granted with all of the conditions requested by the police and our environmental health officers.”

To buy tickets for the festival, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk and search for ‘Yeovil Tribute Festival’.