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AEG Live granted two-year Hyde Park extension

British Summer Time will stay at its current home until at least 2019 under the new agreement

By Jon Chapple on 27 Jan 2016

The Who, British Summer Time (BST) Hyde Park, Capital Sound, Martin Audio

The Who perform at British Summer Time Hyde Park 2015


image © Capital Sound

British Summer Time has been granted an extension to stay in Hyde Park until 2019.

The Royal Parks, the body which manages London’s eight Royal Parks (Hyde Park, St James’s Park, Regent’s Park, Richmond Park, Green Park, Kensington Gardens, Greenwich Park and Bushy Park) granted AEG Live a five-year contract in 2012 with the option of a two-year extension, which has now been taken up.

British Summer Time (BST), sponsored by Barclaycard, first took place in 2013, filling the vacant spot left by the move of Live Nation’s Calling Festival (formerly Hard Rock Calling and Hyde Park Calling) to Clapham.

“As we enter our fourth year, the quality of artists wanting to play is now testament to the hard work put in by everybody”

The use of Hyde Park as a venue for rock concerts and festivals has not been without controversy – something which may have influenced Live Nation’s decision not to bid for a new contract for the park in 2013.

Local residents are often critical of what they see as excessive noise leakage – something tempered in recent years by Martin Audio’s MLA sound system, deployed by BST sound company Capital Sound, which allows for sound levels of 100dB(A) in the park but well under the 75dB(A) threshold outside it – and there is a strict curfew for all performers. (Even if you’re Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen).

AEG Live senior vice-president Jim King says: “We set out with the most ambitious plan we possibly could, and wanted to translate the ‘best-in-class’ philosophy that our company had delivered at indoor venues like The O2 into the outdoor environment for the first time.

“As we enter our fourth year, the quality of artists wanting to play is now testament to the hard work put in by everybody. It has been a pleasure and privilege working in harmony with The Royal Parks, Hyde Park stakeholder groups and residents, Barclaycard and the artists to deliver spectacular and memorable summer days and nights for London.”

Take That, Mumford & Sons and Florence + the Machine with Kendrick Lamar will headline the 2016 event.