Haringey Council has announced a 5-year agreement with Festival Republic which sees benefits for all parties.
A statement from Haringey Council says that The new agreement will see major events taking place in the park each summer for the next five years, generating significant income for the park and benefitting local businesses and the community.
On average, Haringey Council receives around £1.2 million from major events each year, all of which is reinvested into Finsbury Park.
As well as paying for a dedicated Park Manager and team, these funds have enabled the council to make significant improvements to park. This includes installing the new inclusive Richard Hope Play Space, which was finalised earlier this year, equipping the park with new street lighting, installing air quality monitoring stations and working with the Friends of the Park to improve and expand the skate park.
An added advantage may be the installation of more permanent infrastructure, such as gris power connections, lessening the need for transporting diesel generators to site.
Leader of Haringey Council, Cllr 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.”
As part of their hire fee, event organisers pay an Environmental Impact Fee which is redistributed to community groups, funding projects which address concerns identified by the park’s Friends group, who in the past have crowdfunded objections to event licensing for Wireless Festival. The fund has seen over £171,000 invested in community projects in Finsbury Park over the last 5 years.
The partnership with Festival Republic will additionally see two days of free community events taking place each year: Finsbury Fest, which will give local artists the chance to play on the festival stage, and the Haringey Schools Music Festival, which will showcase the best of our borough’s young musicians.
Cllr Emily Arkell, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Leisure, said:
“Securing event bookings over several years has many benefits to the council, residents and staff working in the park. By agreeing dates early, the council has security in knowing what income is expected and allows us to plan accordingly. Working over the longer term with the event organisers will allow us to develop further improvements that reduce the environmental impact of the events.
“We’re particularly pleased that this long-term agreement will see two community events taking place which will give residents the chance to come together and celebrate our amazing local musicians. I look forward to seeing and speaking with residents at Finsbury Fest and the Haringey Schools Music Festival this year – and for many years to come.”
