THE organiser of a music festival says she is confident the event will go ahead despite fears last week that it may have to be cancelled.

One hundred tickets have been sold for popular town centre watering-hole The Three Old Crowns’ inaugural Crownsfest on May 25 and 26.

The event, billed as a replacement for Bolt Fest, boasts a line-up of 14 bands from Bolton and beyond, all to perform on an outdoor stage in a battle of the bands-style competition across the two days.

However, doubts were raised over whether the “family-friendly” festival would go ahead after licensing officers from Bolton Council visited the pub, in Deansgate, on Thursday.

They informed its landlord, Natalie Cardwell, that the pub’s licensing agreement did not permit entry to children under the age of 14, a condition she said she was unaware of.

It left Ms Cardwell fearing she may have to cancel the event as it would be too late to apply for a new licence.

However, those fears appear to have been allayed as Ms Cardwell applied for a temporary licence on Friday.

The licence is expected to take five working days to process, and Ms Cardwell is confident that the event will go ahead as scheduled.

She said: “The whole thing was supposed to be aimed at families, but our licence does not cover under 14s being in here. We have never been told that before.

“Lots of planning has gone into this. I spent ages finding the perfect bands and hiring stages.

“We have applied for a temporary licence, so hopefully we should be fine.”

Ms Cardwell started organising the festival in January, with the festival format designed to give a boost to young and smaller bands playing original tracks and support the town’s music scene.

Among the bands confirmed were Bolton youngsters Conixi, Manchester four-piece Sparrowhawk, Manchester metal outfit Viral Strain, and Bolton hard rockers Unknown Refuge.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: “We visited the premises and offered advice and event about how to operate the event in a safe manner.”