Wireless Festival is to be held in north London’s Finsbury Park for the next five years - despite backlash from locals.
Haringey Council has signed a deal with the music festival’s promoter to allow the event to take place every summer until 2027, in the hope it will raise “significant income” for the park and local economy.
The weekend festival, which draws daily crowds of up to 50,000 people, has been held in the park annually since 2014 except for two years during the pandemic.
However, locals have long campaigned for it to be held elsewhere, citing issues with noise pollution, antisocial behaviour, environmental impact and the acres of public land it takes up.
Until now, Wireless has been booked on a yearly basis. But the council said its new five-year deal will guarantee money to fund the park’s upkeep - despite admitting in a report that its new approach will “reduce the income level received”.
Community group the Friends of Finsbury Park has slammed the council’s decision, claiming the move will result in less oversight of events, and is “about money, not culture”.
“Evidently, council budgets are tight,” they said. “But elsewhere in the borough, Haringey Council is making great investments in parks. And perversely, this deal appears to deliver less money for Finsbury Park.
”The friends group supports holding smaller-scale events of fewer than 10,000 people in the park but says major events reduce access for residents and lead to noise and antisocial behaviour.”
The group says it is “incredibly disappointed” the council had not held a “promised [public] consultation on the proposal” and instead signed the five-year deal “which appears to learn none of the lessons from the disastrous Tough Mudder event earlier this year”.
Haringey Council banned Tough Mudder challenges from the park in April, after one particular event held in wet weather left the ground a sea of churned-up mud - damage that was blasted by the Friends group and described by Labour MP David Lammy as an “environmental disgrace”.
Alexandra Worrell, a Labour councillor for Stroud Green ward, said she believes events the scale of Wireless are “unsuitable” for the park, and the council has not been “sufficiently clear, transparent or communicative” about how the money raised from the events was being used.
The council said events raise around £1.2 million per year for Finsbury Park, funding the maintenance team and paying for improvements such as a new play space, air-quality monitoring stations and an expanded skate park.
It said holding events with fewer than 10,000 attendees would mean having to find an extra £400,000 per year to support the park.
As part of the new deal Wireless promoter Festival Republic will also hold a second weekend of major events in the park each year. Two days of free community events will also take place: Finsbury Fest, which will see local artists play on the festival stage, and Haringey Schools Music Festival, which will showcase the borough’s young musicians.
Council leader Peray Ahmet said: “Finsbury Park is a thriving green space in the heart of our borough. We are incredibly proud of the park and its long history of hosting some of the biggest names in music through the summer events programme.
“As well as bringing in significant funds to help us manage and improve the park, events are an important opportunity for residents, especially our young people, to access world-class music and culture in an affordable and sustainable way.”
Responding to the concerns over the absence of a public consultation on major events, a council spokesperson said: “In line with our outdoor events policy, we engaged with recognised stakeholders ahead of taking this decision, with feedback received being evaluated as part of the decision-making process. Our procedure for notifying and engaging with stakeholders was tested and found to be robust by the High Court in a 2016 judgment.”
Festival Republic has been approached for comment.
