Wireless Festival could be kicked out of Finsbury Park after licence review granted by Haringey Council
The crowd at Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park this year. Picture: Matt Crossick/PA Wire. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Wireless Festival chiefs face a battle to stay in Finsbury Park after Haringey Council announced a licence review will take place next month.
Finsbury Park. Picture: Ken Mears - Credit: Archant
The Friends of Finsbury Park campaign group has long been calling for a ban on the music festival, which has been held in the park since 2014.
After a failed judicial review at the High Court last year, the campaigners have turned their attention back to the town hall, and in July submitted an application to review operator Live Nation’s licence.
The review has now been given the green light and will take place in front of the Haringey licensing sub-committee on October 15th and 16th at the Civic Centre in High Road, Wood Green.
It comes after two young festivalgoers died after attending this year’s event, which was headlined by Drake.
The review has received the support of Islington and Hackney councils – who want to see tighter restrictions put in place regarding noise, capacity and anti-social behaviour.
It also received the backing of Jeremy Corbyn, who said he was becoming “increasingly concerned” about the impact of closures of the park on locals. He also said it was “very obvious the organisers were not sufficiently prepared for it, or its effects on the local community”, referencing neighbours who could feel their homes “literally vibrating”.
A spokesperson for the Friends of Finsbury Park said: “Wireless Festival is too big for Finsbury Park. It is a massive multi-million pound music event. It is almost impossible to comprehend its vast scale and the impact it has on Finsbury Park and residents of Haringey, Islington and Hackney.
“We want Haringey to revoke the premises licence so Wireless Festival can no longer take place in Finsbury Park.
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“The park already makes income for the council from smaller events such as the circus and funfairs, and location filming.
“We’d like the council to work with us to find alternative, more imaginative, streams of income which are more appropriate in type and scale for our wonderful park, and inclusive of the local community.”
The Friends of Finsbury Park will be represented by Charles Streeten of Francis Taylor Buildings and noise expert Richard Vivian of Big Sky Acoustics Ltd, whose acoustics report into last year’s festival found it exceeded the limits.
