14 May: I’ll welcome old flame Duffy with open arms says Wakestock organiser

Below article from the Daily Post.

I’ll welcome old flame Duffy with open arms says Wakestock organiser

WAKESTOCK festival organiser Mark Durston welcomes former girlfriend Duffy to this year’s event – even though he admits to cheating on the singing sensation.

Up to 50,000 fans will see the girl from Nefyn headline the event, performing alongside the likes of Mark Ronson, Groove Armada and the Happy Mondays at the three-day music and wakeboarding festival on the Lln peninsula from July 4-6.

Chart-topper Aimee Duffy, 23, had met Mr Durston at a college near Nefyn. They began a relationship before rumours circulated that she left him because she “no longer had time for him”.

But she explained in a recent interview: “The real reason we broke up was he cheated on me. I made a commitment.

“I didn’t cheat on him. I thought he treasured me.”

And ahead of the event, Mr Durston, 35, admitted to a couple of nights of “stupidity” during their relationship.

He said: “It has been open knowledge that I was stupid in the early part of our (Mark and Duffy’s) relationship.

“It was totally right that it finished at that point. But we did get together a couple of months later, just after Wakestock 2006, for about four months.”

Their relationship then ended around November 2006 but Mark says he and Duffy remain firm friends.

Cheshire-born Mr Durston, who has lived in Abersoch for 10 years, described how the memory of his infidelity “lingered”.

He said: “Duffy started heading down to London quite a lot when I was seeing her. She got signed up by Rough Trade, who are based in London, and needed to be there pretty much a few days a week. It progressed from there to weekends. Her whole career escalated and I was also passionate about my job in North Wales.”

“The break-up was a combination of our rapidly growing careers at opposite ends of the country, and I’m sure the knowledge of what had happened previously would have been lingering. But we get on really well now as friends.”

He added: “We separated amicably. We still get together to talk about really bad photos of us together.”

He had never denied the infidelity claims but “left it to Duffy to deal with it for the sake of her career”.

But on her return to the event – she performed in 2003 – he said: “Of course, I can’t wait for her to sing. It’ll be great having her at it.”

Mr Durston added that there will be increased security presence this year to make sure the event goes off smoothly after last year’s Wakestock was dogged by problems.

Organisers cancelled the Saturday night concert after heavy rain turned the field into a quagmire. North Wales Police said the site was impassable to vehicles as ambulances couldn’t have reached the medical tent or campsite.

Traffic problems should also be reduced this year after talks with Gwynedd highways officials.

“We’ve had clearance to use an old Eisteddfod route which will allow us to create a one-way system on site, which we’ve not been able to do before,” added Mr Durston.

“It was built specifically for an Urdd Eisteddfod about nine years ago. It was overgrown and runs down from the main road.”

Organisers have also brought the festival forward to avoid peak holiday season and crowd safety is vital.

Mr Durston said: “Health and safety is a priority. We are certainly looking to improve a lot of the infrastructure this year.”

Wakestock have taken on new traffic management and a risk assessment company who have overseen festivals such as T in the Park.