City events rescheduled due to pop-up MET stage delays

Preston was set to welcome a striking new city centre event space to host the first of the city’s ‘Pop-Up’ projects last week.

But events booked will now take to the stage elsewhere in the city or risk being rescheduled, due to a series of setbacks and delays due to the pandemic.

The MET – which stands for Mobile Event Tent – was set to be installed in the city’s Harris Quarter and will play host to an array of events aimed at bringing people back into the city centre and supporting businesses including gigs, workshops and conferences.

Select shows have been moved to neighbouring city venues including Riva Showbar, The Ferrett and The Larder but others will be rescheduled to next Spring.

The pop-up tent, which can accommodate up to 100 event-goers, is now expected to be fully completed by March next year, although smaller events will still be hosted this Autumn.

Charles Quick, project manager for The MET, said: “The MET, a Mobile Event Tent, is a one-off design that has been many months in the making. Unfortunately, a series of setbacks, including pandemic related delays, has meant we have been unable to complete the structure to the original schedule.

"This means that we have had to rearrange the autumn MET events programme.

“We’ve already relocated some events, such as the Lancashire Encounter events that happened over the weekend, and we’re working with promoters and artists to move other pre-booked shows to alternative venues too.

“While we now expect the MET to be completed and ready to host some smaller events this autumn, our focus is now on developing a full spring programme for this exciting venue.

“The MET has been designed to be a flexible and robust mobile events space that will provide valuable support to our arts and cultural community over the next few years.”

The project was funded from £1m of initial funding the city secured from the government’s Towns Fund for a series of ‘Pop-up’ regeneration projects in the Harris Quarter.

The structure, which was designed and developed in Preston, is made from specially adapted shipping containers, a fabric cover, and other materials to create a 150sq m space.

It was initially set to be situated on the site of the proposed Animate cinema and leisure development, next to Preston Market, with the ability to move to other city-centre locations when needed.

The MET What's On page is still available at Visit Preston.

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