Mighty Hoopla, Cross The Tracks, Wide Awake, Field Day & City Splash festivals, Brockwell Park - discussion

[Tron Cruise]

Fireworks haven’t been free for a few years now. Country Show is a shadow of what it used to be - bonus wall included. One free event for locals vs loads of commercial balls for the tourists. And having to endure seemingly endless hours of Supergrass from the garden should come with danger money.

 

[Not a Vet]

Fireworks haven’t been free for a few years now. Country Show is a shadow of what it used to be - bonus wall included. One free event for locals vs loads of commercial balls for the tourists. And having to endure seemingly endless hours of Supergrass from the garden should come with danger money.

Lighten up, you can listen to steps belting out their “greatest hits” tonight

 

[Tron Cruise]

Lighten up, you can listen to steps belting out their “greatest hits” tonight

Reaches for ignore button.

 

[Not a Vet]

Reaches for ignore button.

Wow, doesn’t take much to offend these days

 

[technical]

I think the thing that people tend to forget is that Lambeth don’t have many options other than these type of events to generate much needed revenue. Every local authority in the country has roughly 40% less funding from central government than it did before the ’age of austerity’. Thanks to Osborne, Cameron and all the Tories who have come after them, they need to do something to fill the gap - these events annoy me to an extent given the area of the park that’s unusable for several weeks, but i don’t blame Lambeth for it as its not their fault.

 

[nagapie]

There is still no clarity from Lambeth that they are making enough off these events to justify the issues people are raising or that the money is being specifically targeted back into the community.
And with the growing number and size of events, sustainability and how these events support and include the community is a growing and relevant concern, not a tut.

 

[edcraw]

There is still no clarity from Lambeth that they are making enough off these events to justify the issues people are raising or that the money is being specifically targeted back into the community.
And with the growing number and size of events, sustainability and how these events support and include the community is a growing and relevant concern, not a tut.

Jim Dickson tweeted this - £350k to the council of which over £100k is spent on the park.



Went yesterday and it’s by far the best organised thing of its kind I’ve been too. Tons of toilets with the grass protected, roping off areas that had got muddy, hardly any queuing for things & exiting people out of the park on specific routes with tons on stewards. Also tickets were £30 which is tons lower than most other similar events.

 

[nagapie]

Where's the rest going?
I don't think £30 is affordable for many that live in Lambeth, relative to other events or not.
I'm not completely opposed to these events, just want full transparency on benefits for residents and a clear view of sustainability; the latter was less of an issue when there was a limit on number of events.

 

[edcraw]

Where's the rest going?

Where’s the rest of what going?

 

[nagapie]

Where’s the rest of what going?

The rest of the £350k.
And is that enough profit, what are the festival companies making?

 

[edcraw]

The rest of the £350k.
And is that enough profit, what are the festival companies making?

The above gives you an idea but council services generally I guess. If the alternative is the council turning down £350 i thing were on different pages.

 

[nagapie]

The above gives you an idea but council services generally I guess. If the alternative is the council turning down £350 i thing were on different pages.

No, the alternative is making sure that if public resources are being used that we ensure proper management of these including getting what the resource is worth and making sure it's channelled somewhere beneficial to the community.
Your hands off approach to keeping the council in check is baffling, particularly considering their record on taking care of the community.

 

[edcraw]

No, the alternative is making sure that if public resources are being used that we ensure proper management of these including getting what the resource is worth and making sure it's channelled somewhere beneficial to the community.
Your hands off approach to keeping the council in check is baffling, particularly considering their record on taking care of the community.

Not hands off approach but some people accusing the council of using this as a money making scheme while others saying their not making enough suggests that maybe it’s somewhere in the middle. £350k sounds like a fairly large amount tbh. Just wary of a position that automatically accuses the council of corruption or whatever without anything to back it up.

 

[nagapie]

Not hands off approach but some people accusing the council of using this as a money making scheme while others saying their not making enough suggests that maybe it’s somewhere in the middle. £350k sounds like a fairly large amount tbh. Just wary of a position that automatically accuses the council of corruption or whatever without anything to back it up.

Not corruption, no one used that word, it's about wanting transparency.
I want to be sure £350k is a substantial amount, how can you just assume it is without knowing the profit margin of the companies running these events?
Will we, for example, see the council now replacing the unfit for purpose roofs on the Cressingham Estate where residents hadve had to listen to the events for 10 days solid?

 

[Cat Fan]

Day tickets are about £60(?) 25,000 attendees according to the Hoopla website, 6 days. Multiplying together that makes £9m, before taking into account fees for food stalls etc. Maybe that's a bit of an overestimate but £350k is not a large chunk of that £9m turnover.

Is it a large amount of money for Lambeth? Well it's about £1 for each person that lives here, which doesn't feel like a lot.

 

[Cat Fan]

I'm basically in the same boat as others, where does it all end? Lambeth are also commercialising Brockwell Hall as a wedding venue, and they're building a barn or something like that by the community greenhouses?

A big part of what I love about Lambeth is the leafy, community, village feel and it feels like the council are selling it away for pennies.

Everything now has to be monetised to justify its existence and it's hyper capitalist and a bit sad.

 

[edcraw]

Personally I look at the events that happen all over London - Crystal Palace, Clapham Common, Victoria Park, Hype Park, Ally Pally grounds - and glad that these happen in the city. Think the Brockwell ones also have some of the most diverse & quality line ups.

Take a look through Instagram at photos tagging Brockwell Park and see how many people are having a great time.

Corse there’s got to be balance but I’m glad that they can happen.

 

[nick]

............... Lambeth are also commercialising Brockwell Hall as a wedding venue, and they're building a barn or something like that by the community greenhouses?

........................

Pretty sure that Lambeth has no direct involvement in this and that it is all due to the BPCG volunteers - with grants and donations
BPCG-The Barn

 

[Agent Sparrow]

The fence will be coming down now I assume? Because keeping it up for the country show in 6 weeks would be ridiculous…

 

[Cat Fan]

Pretty sure that Lambeth has no direct involvement in this and that it is all due to the BPCG volunteers - with grants and donations
BPCG-The Barn

Ah, cheers, my mistake

 

[Cat Fan]

Personally I look at the events that happen all over London - Crystal Palace, Clapham Common, Victoria Park, Hype Park, Ally Pally grounds - and glad that these happen in the city. Think the Brockwell ones also have some of the most diverse & quality line ups.

Take a look through Instagram at photos tagging Brockwell Park and see how many people are having a great time.

Corse there’s got to be balance but I’m glad that they can happen.

Herne Hill was absolutely buzzing today so at least it's good for the local economy.

 

[Drum2000]

I live directly opposite. Today is day nine of the event not including the two weeks setup and however long the strike time will take. Admittedly, Mon, Tues, and Wed, were relatively quiet but bloody hell - I have had enough! Six days of events seemingly occurring inside our flat. Three days perhaps but not nine.

 

[RubyToogood]

Day tickets are about £60(?) 25,000 attendees according to the Hoopla website, 6 days. Multiplying together that makes £9m, before taking into account fees for food stalls etc. Maybe that's a bit of an overestimate but £350k is not a large chunk of that £9m turnover.

Is it a large amount of money for Lambeth? Well it's about £1 for each person that lives here, which doesn't feel like a lot.

I think you might need to subtract a few things from that figure like paying performers, contractors, security, infrastructure, whatever Lambeth are charging for use of the site etc...

 

[Cat Fan]

I think you might need to subtract a few things from that figure like paying performers, contractors, security, infrastructure, whatever Lambeth are charging for use of the site etc...

Fair point, but I said turnover not profit. We do know Lambeth is getting £350k, but we don't know how much profit the organisers make which makes it hard to know whether it's good value for Lambeth council tax payers or not.

According to public information Lambeth has a budget requirement of £350m (as an aside Wandsworth manages on only £200m with a similar size population).

So if my maths is right the income from the festival pays for an astounding 0.1% of the council's funding needs. I'm not saying they don't need all the money they can get, but it's clearly not going to be a game changer.

 

[Not a Vet]

Fair point, but I said turnover not profit. We do know Lambeth is getting £350k, but we don't know how much profit the organisers make which makes it hard to know whether it's good value for Lambeth council tax payers or not.

According to public information Lambeth has a budget requirement of £350m (as an aside Wandsworth manages on only £200m with a similar size population).

So if my maths is right the income from the festival pays for an astounding 0.1% of the council's funding needs. I'm not saying they don't need all the money they can get, but it's clearly not going to be a game changer.

Might be a drop in the ocean for Lambeth’s budget but I can’t see parks being very high on that priority list so if these events help to keep the parks open and maintained it’s a small price to pay.

 

[editor]

I went yesterday. Cross The Tracks was way busier than the last one and had sold out. Joy Crookes was fantastic again, but I thought the last band were hugely disappointing.

Drink prices were ridiculously steep and there was huge queues for food. Nice day out though.

 

[friendofdorothy]

The fence will be coming down now I assume? Because keeping it up for the country show in 6 weeks would be ridiculous…

That fence really spoils the park. Anyone know when its coming down?

 

[thebackrow]

I went yesterday. Cross The Tracks was way busier than the last one and had sold out. Joy Crookes was fantastic again, but I thought the last band were hugely disappointing.

Drink prices were ridiculously steep and there was huge queues for food. Nice day out though.

How much was a beer?

Drink prices seem to have got up a lot everywhere in the last year.

 

[edcraw]

How much was a beer?

Drink prices seem to have got up a lot everywhere in the last year.

£6.75 a pint! But good choice of breweries - Canopy, Bullfinch, Orbit etc. - which helped.

 

[Ryan2468]

Appreciate another borough and park(!) but it was £6.60 for a small can of beer at Gala in Peckham Rye. Security weren't too crazy and intrusive though, at least early in the afternoon when we got there.