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Primavera Sound London 2020 called off

Primavera Sound organisers have abandoned plans to hold a London edition of the Spanish festival next summer, IQ has learnt.

It is understood the British capital would have hosted one of five Primavera-branded events in 2020, the festival’s 20th-anniversary year, alongside the flagship Primavera Sound Barcelona (4–6 June), NOS Primavera Sound in Oporto (11–13 June), Primavera Sound Los Angeles (19–20 September) and Primavera Weekender in Benidorm (8–9 November).

Primavera London would have taken place at Broadwick Live’s 10,000-cap. Drumsheds venue at Meridian Water in Enfield, north London, in June, with the new event either replacing or merging with Broadwick’s Field Day festival. IQ understands the idea of partnering with Primavera Sound was that of Field Day founder Tom Baker, who subsequently stepped down to focus on his company, promoter Eat Your Own Ears.

Festival bookers have been submitting offers for 2020 throughout this summer, though these have now been withdrawn and it communicated to agents that Primavera London is not happening.

The decision to call time on the 2020 event is believed to be in part due to timing constraints. One person with knowledge of the situation says it could still be some months before a permit for the festival is granted, leaving organisers with little time to put together a festival worthy of the Primavera brand.

“They [organisers] want it to be as perfect as possible,” they say. “They could organise it for next year, but now the feeling is it’s better to wait until 2021.”

Primavera London 2020 would have taken place at the Drumsheds in Enfield

Another source highlights festival bosses’ concerns about the Drumsheds’ licence conditions: while Field Day 2019 officially had a curfew of 3am, last entry was at 8pm, and many festivalgoers were turned away after arriving late. (Music at Primavera Sound Barcelona, by contrast, doesn’t begin until the early evening.)

At press time, the Primavera Sound website still shows five festivals happening in 2020 as part of its Primavera 2020 Vision birthday celebrations. In addition to Barcelona, Oporto, LA and Benidorm, there is a placeholder for the UK festival, featuring a blurred image showing the London Eye.

According to Pollstar – which first reported on plans for Primavera London in July – festival promoter Primavera Sound SL has “wanted a presence in the UK for some time”, with London as their preferred location.

In the United States, Primavera is partnering with Live Nation, which will co-produce the event at Los Angeles Historic Park.

Reached for comment, a Primavera Sound spokesperson says there are “no plans for Primavera Sound in London in 2020”.

Primavera Sound is Spain’s biggest music festival, with a daily capacity of 35,000, and stakes place at the Parc del Forum in Barcelona alongside a music industry conference, Primavera Pro. It staged its first gender-balanced event this year, featuring headline performances by female stars including Janelle Monáe, Miley Cyrus, Solange and Christine and the Queens.

 


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Broadwick unveils 10ac London events site, the Drumsheds

On the back of its successful Printworks London venue, and ahead of the late-2019 opening of Exhibition in Shepherd’s Bush, Broadwick Venues has announced the Drumsheds, a ten-acre events space set to launch in north London this June.

Located at Meridian Water in Enfield, near the Tottenham Marshes, the multi-purpose venue’s first event will be the 2019 edition of Field Day festival, with an “electrifying schedule of events” planned for later in the year, according to Broadwick.

Situated on the site of a former BOC gasworks, in close proximity to the soon-to-open Meridian Water railway station, the Drumsheds comprises a 10ac outdoor festival site and four huge, interlinked warehouses with an indoor capacity of 10,000 – and is located away from residential areas, enabling events to run later than at many competing venues. Along with the new station, it forms part of the £6 billion Meridian Water regeneration project, which aims to transform the former industrial site.

The Drumsheds’ location, combined with its transport links and huge capacity (the Drumsheds will be London’s largest Warehouse venue), creates what Broadwick – the venue arm of Global-owned festival promoter Broadwick Live – calls a “game-changing prospect for London’s vibrant culture” that offers “an experience to rival Europe’s most revered music arenas”.

“The Drumsheds is Broadwick Venues’ most ambitious project to date”

Bradley Thompson, managing director of Broadwick Venues, comments: “The Drumsheds is Broadwick Venues’ most ambitious project to date and a huge boost for the capital: multiple warehouse spaces, the largest of which has 10,000-plus capacity, along with a ten-acre outdoor festival space, complete with a late night licence [is] unprecedented in London.

“It epitomises both Broadwick Venues’ dedication to quality, innovation and creativity, and Meridian Water’s commitment to be a true 24-hour destination. We’re confident that people will be as blown away by it as we are.”

“I’m delighted that the Drumsheds is the latest venue to open in our capital and proud that it shows Enfield’s commitment to delivering the mayor’s 24-hour vision for London,” adds Amy Lamé, London’s night czar.

“London has the most diverse nighttime culture in the world, and this innovative new event space, at the heart of a major regeneration project, will be a great addition to our wide range of entertainment venues.”

 


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Field Day trades fields for warehouses for 2019

After a year in Brockwell Park, Brixton, in 2018, popular UK festival Field Day will relocate again next summer – to a ten-acre former industrial space at Meridian Water, near Tottenham Marshes in north London.

Perhaps taking inspiration from owner Broadwick Live’s Printworks venue – located at an old printworks in Canada Water – the festival’s new home is the site of a former gasworks, and comprises a ten-acre outdoor space featuring four giant, interlinked warehouses. The largest of which, at a capacity of 7,500, will be the biggest warehouse venue for music in London.

And in news that will be music to the ears of fans and south London busybodies – many of whom mobilised to oppose the use of Brockwell Park as a venue in 2018 – alike, the non-residential nature of the new Field Day site means its curfew will be later than any other festival in London.

The site is located a short walk from the new Meridian Water station, set to open in May 2019.

Field Day formerly took place in Victoria Park in east London – now exclusive to AEG and the home of its All Points East festival.

“This new site will allow us to break down the restrictions that London festivals are normally faced with”

Luke Huxham, Field Day festival director, says: “2019 will mark the start of a new chapter for Field Day and a completely new type of festival for London. This new site will allow us to break down the restrictions that London festivals are normally faced with and deliver an unrivalled experience.

“It’s hugely exciting to be working with such a pioneering council [Enfield], who support our ideas and are focused on creating a new cultural hub for London. We can’t wait to unveil more of our plans in the coming weeks”.

“Broadwick Venues are extremely excited and proud to be embarking on a new and exciting journey and hosting one of our own festivals, Field Day, at our new permanent venue and site,” adds Bradley Thompson, of Broadwick Live’s Venues division.

“There couldn’t be a more important time to focus on and replenish London’s music and nightlife culture, and this truly allows us to break the boundaries on what metropolitan festivals should be – and perfectly compliments our other London location and venue, Printworks.”

 


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