Residents have expressed anger and frustration after a Carnival event kept them awake through the night and apparently caused damage to the grounds of a national park.

The Nova Mas Sunrise Swizzle event, which was scheduled to run from 3am to 9am at the Arboretum in Devonshire on Sunday, left neighbours reeling as high-energy music blasted from the venue.

Robert Masters, who lives directly across from the Arboretum, said that he contacted the Liquor Licensing Authority to object to the event taking place, but was never invited to a hearing.

He believes that the event contravened the Liquor Licence Act given the lateness of the hour that drinks were served.

Concert organisers have defended the event, saying that they received proper approvals, and police have said that no formal complaints were made to them about the event.

The Department of Parks also described damage to the park as “minimal”.

Mr Masters, who has written a Letter to the Editor, said: “It went against the regulations to grant a liquor licence that is outside of the hours of 10am on the first day and 2am on the second day.

“An occasional licence is the only licence they can give for a national park. They [the LLA] agreed to have a hearing which was set for the Thursday, two days before the concert but I never got the e-mails and wasn’t able to give my formal objection.

"The Liquor Licensing Authority gave them a licence for this one event but it contravened the Liquor Licence Act. I was not able to attend the hearing so I requested the formal ruling of the hearing.”

Section 22 of the Liquor Licence Act states that an occasional licence authorises a body to sell alcohol between the hours of 10am on one day and 2am the next day.

Police said that they are not investigating any breaches that may have occurred.

A spokesman for the Bermuda Police Service said: “Any queries regarding the granting of liquor licences should be addressed to the Liquor Licensing Authority.”

He said that police had not received complaints over noise.

Mr Masters said: “I live across the road from the Arboretum and it was so loud my house was shaking. All the windows rattle, the bass is pounding. We have neighbours up and down the road who experienced the same thing.

“For the residents who live around the Arboretum it is upsetting. We were woken up in the middle of the night and subjected to six hours of pounding music. I don’t think it is an appropriate venue.”

On the state of the park, he said: “I took some photos of the Arboretum before the event. I walked over there on Sunday morning and took some photos of it after. It was much worse afterwards.

“They were still cleaning up. The vendor trucks drove anywhere they wanted to all over the grass, they didn’t even stick to the roadways. They took the easiest route over the grass and destroyed huge swathes of it.”

Another resident who wished remain anonymous said: “It was so loud it felt like the house was shaking. It disturbed my dogs and they were barking all night. My husband’s a doctor and was on call but he didn’t get any sleep. We got the full force of it.

“Why would they put something like that so close to a residential area? It was horrendous. We have guests who were up at 5am to the sound of constant bass.

“What was really upsetting was the way the park was left — it’s such a shame as it was looking so beautiful.”

A third neighbour who also wished to remain unnamed said she lives in Purvis Park, which contains about 20 houses largely inhabited by senior citizens.

“Things like that should be taken into account,” she said. “Why couldn’t they have used Southside? This is smack in the middle of a residential district.

“It was a nuisance and I hope they can find some place else.”

A spokesman for the Department of Parks said last night: “An assessment has found that the damage to the Arboretum is in fact minimal and the use for the approved event, combined with the weekend's heavy rainfall, accounts for the site's current state.

“The public can rest assured that the affected areas will be quickly restored.”

He added: “The liquor licence for this specific event was issued in accordance with the Liquor Licensing Act.”

Seldon Woolridge, one of the event organisers, said: “We worked closely with the relevant stakeholders who granted the necessary approvals to ensure a successful event. Despite the adverse weather conditions, the event was able to proceed as planned without incident.

“We thank our stakeholders, sponsors, local and international patrons for their support. We have no further response or comment at this time.”

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