Festival Republic plans 38,000-cap Leicester fest
Live Nation’s Festival Republic has applied to Leicester City Council for a licence to launch a new two-day event in the city’s Victoria Park.
The name of the festival has not yet been revealed but, if approved, the multi-genre 38,000-cap event will take place from 16-17 September.
The festival would reportedly have two stages – one featuring around eight artists per day and the other showcasing DJs.
The venue has previously hosted concerts by Kasabian as well as BBC Radio 1’s One Big Sunday events in the early 2000s, which starred the likes of Craig David, Alicia Keys and Busted.
“It puts Leicester back on the map”
The news has been warmly welcomed by the local business community, with Festival Republic set to hold a drop-in event to answer questions this Wednesday (19 April).
“This is absolutely fantastic news, it’s what we’ve been waiting for,” Rachel Granger, professor of urban economics at Leicester’s De Montfort University, tells the BBC. “Leicester’s really had a very difficult run of years, what with Covid. It’s really been trying to find its feet since.
“It puts Leicester back on the map. It outlines the distinctiveness of the city – it’s always been a creative and artistic one.”
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Field Day partners with APE for Victoria Park return
Broadwick Live’s Field Day will return to its original home of Victoria Park in 2021 as part of a tie-up with All Points East, the AEG festival that replaced it as tenant of the east London park in 2018.
Taking place as part of APE Presents, the concert series which takes place around All Points East (APE), Field Day 2021 will take place on Sunday 29 August with an electronic/dance music-focused line-up headlined by Bicep.
Moving three months later into the year, to the 27–30 August bank holiday, All Points East/APE Presents has already announced its Saturday (28 August) line-up, with headliners Jamie XX and Kano joining Tom Misch, Slowthai, Little Simz, Arlo Parks and more. More shows are set to be announced for the weekend, including for free-to-access community event In the Neighbourhood.
Speaking earlier this week, Jim King, CEO of European festivals for AEG Presents, said: “It feels so great to finally be announcing our first day of All Points East 2021. The chance to be back in the summer sun in Victoria Park is itself alone a reason to celebrate. The fact we are coming back with such a great first line-up announcement makes this an even sweeter moment.
“There are some exciting changes this year, including our move to the August bank holiday weekend. We welcome two sensational co-headliners for the Saturday, Jamie xx and Kano, as well as a host of amazing artists. We can’t wait to welcome back live music in the UK and be back dancing with you all later this summer.”
Commenting on Field Day’s return to Victoria Park, Broadwick’s Gareth Cooper says: “We couldn’t be more excited to be bringing Field Day back to its spiritual home of Victoria Park, where it all started 14 years ago. We are going to deliver the best day out of the summer, in one of London’s best parks, with an amazing crowd, and a top, top music line-up led from the front by the brilliant Bicep. It’s going to be ace.
“Working with Field Day … stands for everything good that is emerging from these challenging times”
“We cannot wait to partner up with APE on presenting this show and provide some hope and excitement to finish off what’s been an awful 12 months. The future starts today.”
Field Day previously took place in Victoria Park but was forced to move to Brockwell Park in Brixton for 2018, before settling on a new home at Broadwick’s industrial Drumsheds space near Enfield for 2019.
“Field Day have been friends of ours for many years, and coming together and working with them on APE Presents Field Day stands for everything good that is emerging from these challenging times,” continues King. “We respect what they do and we align so closely with what they stand for and so it’s a great feeling to be able to welcome them back to Victoria Park where they delivered so many amazing shows.
“They have a great line-up headlined by the incredible Bicep, and the larger capacity that APE offers means more fans will be able to see Field Day deliver what they do so well.”
The All Points East site has a capacity of 50,000 for 2021. Field Day announced last month it had already sold out the Drumsheds.
Joining Bicep on the Field Day line-up are Floating Points, the Blessed Madonna, Mount Kimbie, Adelphi Music Factory, Ross from Friends, Special Request, Mall Grab, Artwork and more.
Tickets for the festival start at £79.99 and available from 1pm today (11 March) via ticket seller Kaboodle.
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APE overcomes sound issues for successful first weekend
AEG Presents’ All Points East returned to London’s Victoria Park over the weekend, following up on the success of its inaugural edition last year, despite sound issues tainting performances for some.
The first weekend of All Points East took place from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 May in the east London park with headline performances from the Chemical Brothers, the Strokes and Christine and the Queens.
The festival is held over two consecutive weekends, with four days of free, community events held on the site in between. This year marks the second outing of the AEG Presents/ Goldenvoice event, which had a “highly successful” first year in 2018.
The Strokes made their first UK appearance in four years, heading up the bill on the festival’s second day, alongside the Raconteurs, Interpol and Johnny Marr. However, festivalgoers claimed the set was marred by poor sound quality.
Fans also complained about the sound quality during Johnny Marr and Interpol performances.
All Points East organisers released the following statement in response to the complaints:
“The sound quality at our shows has been of a consistently high standard since we started All Points East in 2018”
“Thank you to the Strokes for joining us last night for a truly incredible show. The sound quality at our shows has been of a consistently high standard since we started All Points East in 2018 and we were disappointed to learn that there was a sound issue in some areas of the site during the Strokes’ set.
“The sound engineers worked hard to address the problem as quickly as possible and, whilst it improved, we regret that a section of the audience didn’t have the audio experience that we expect for them. We will be responding to individual customers in the next few days.”
No sound issues were reported the following night. Christine and the Queens closed the first weekend of the festival on Sunday evening with a well-received debut headline performance.
Ten-day All Points East continues throughout the week with four days of free-to-access offerings including outdoor cinema viewings, live music, dance workshops, sporting activities, yoga sessions, children’s theatre and street food and pop-up bars.
Weekend two kicks off on Friday 31 May with headliners Bring me the Horizon, followed by Mumford and Sons and Bon Iver on Saturday and Sunday.
AEG Presents/ Goldenvoice have a five-year contact with Victoria Park owner Tower Hamlets Council, for exclusive use of the park for events.
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Bring Me the Horizon added to APE 2019 line-up
Bring Me the Horizon will play their only UK festival show in 2019 at next summer’s All Points East (APE) event in Victoria Park, London.
In their first headlining festival show, the British metal act will curate and headline APE on Friday 31 May, topping a bill that also includes Run the Jewels, Idles, Yonaka and more.
The APE announcement follows on the back of tragedy for Bring Me the Horizon, who described their horror after a fan died at their Alexandra Palace show last Friday (30 November).
They join previously announced APE headliners/curators Chemical Brothers (24 May) and Christine and the Queens (26 May) and Bon Iver (2 June).
Jim King, senior vice-president of festival promoter AEG Presents, comments: “We are beyond thrilled to be able to welcome Bring Me the Horizon to the East Stage next year for their long overdue first festival headliner set.
“31 May is going to be an unforgettable night for Victoria Park”
“The band and the festival have curated an unbelievable day of music. 31 May is going to be an unforgettable night for Victoria Park.”
All Points East, which has a daily capacity of 40,000, debuted to a “phenomenal” response in 2018, after AEG was awarded a five-year exclusive on the use of the east London park. It follows a similar format to the company’s successful British Summer Time (BST) event in Hyde Park, combining two weekends of music with a BST-style free-to-access midweek offering, All Points East In the Neighbourhood.
All Points East 2019 runs from 24 May to 2 June. Tickets for the Bon Iver and Chemical Brothers shows are on sale now, with GA day passes priced at £71.55.
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APE announces midweek In the Neighbourhood programme
All Points East, AEG’s new week-long BST-style festival in east London’s Victoria Park, has announced plans for its slate of free-to-access midweek programming, which will include an outdoor cinema, aerial circus performances and workshops, tennis, yoga, spoken-word poetry, children’s storytelling, bars, street food and live music.
All Points East (APE), announced last October, combines two long weekends of music – an eponymous three-day music festival and three ‘APE Presents’ headline shows – with four non-music days in between. It is the company’s first event in Victoria Park – formerly home to non-AEG events Field Day, Lovebox and Citadel – on which it has an exclusive until 2022.
Similarly to its successful British Summer Time (BST) event in Hyde Park, all midweek entertainment, dubbed All Points East In the Neighbourhood, will be free to access and open to the general public, “as part of dedicated drive to provide free content for local residents and the wider community and to support local businesses”, say promoters AEG Presents and Goldenvoice.
“Goldenvoice/AEG Presents is very excited to announce All Points East In the Neighbourhood,” says event manager Jenny Hamada. “Offering our event site back to the community to enjoy a diverse range of free content is part of our continued drive to enhance the positive impact of our event.
“Community benefits are a key part of what will be delivered”
“Promoting and celebrating local talent is the very fabric of In the Neighbourhood, with activities being sourced from the outstanding organisations and artists based throughout Tower Hamlets and areas surrounding Victoria Park.”
A full list of In the Neighbourhood activities, which includes free live music featuring local acts, is available from the APE website.
The mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs, comments: “Victoria Park is a great space for events and we are excited about All Points East coming to the borough. When we made the agreement with the promoters we ensured that community benefits are a key part of what will be delivered.
“There will be a four-day programme of free activities, which is an exciting opportunity to showcase our borough’s rich and diverse cultural talent and ensure that local people have a chance to get involved in what should be a great event.
“In the Neighbourhood will mean residents and families in Tower Hamlets can enjoy dozens of free events and sample some of the culinary delights and beverages provided by local food and drink businesses.”
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Lovebox, Citadel to relocate to Gunnersbury Park
Despite both festivals confirming last November they would be moving to Brockwell Park in Brixton for 2018, Ealing and Hounslow councils today jointly announced they have reached an agreement with Mama parent Live Nation/Festival Republic for Lovebox and Citadel to instead relocate to Gunnersbury Park in west London.
Lovebox will take place on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 July, with Citadel following on Sunday 15 July 2018. Initial line-up announcements for both events are due next month.
The festivals’ planned move to Brockwell Park, first reported by IQ last October, was met with fierce opposition from locals, with residents’ association Friends of Brockwell Park complaining that the “small, urban park” does “not have not have the capacity to host such gigantic events. We oppose them utterly.”
Many local residents are also opposed to Eat Your Own Ears’ Field Day festival moving to Brockwell Park, as is planned.
All three events previously took place in Victoria Park, in east London, but were forced to move after AEG agreed a five-year contract with Tower Hamlets council for exclusive use of the park.
“I have no doubt that this move for Lovebox and Citadel 2018 will be a great success”
Commenting on today’s news, Julian Bell, leader of Ealing council, says: “I am delighted to welcome the Lovebox and Citadel festivals to the borough this summer. Rightly recognised as among the very best anywhere across the capital and beyond, these festivals will boast acclaimed, international artists and a vibrant atmosphere for the many thousands of fans attending. It is a venue with an excellent record of hosting large public events, including the London Mela, which has attracted over 90,000 visitors in the past.
“Gunnersbury Park is currently undergoing a hugely positive transition which will see brand-new sports facilities and wonderful historical buildings opening their doors in the near future. Hosting these festivals is another huge boost for the park and it also underlines our reputation as a place to see great live events.”
“Gunnersbury Park has undergone a phenomenal transformation in recent years,” adds Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn, “and I have no doubt that this move for Lovebox and Citadel 2018 will be a great success.”
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Field Day’s Brockwell Park move confirmed
After 11 years in the now AEG-exclusive Victoria Park, Eat Your Own Ears’ Field Day is heading south of the river.
As first reported by IQ last month, the 20,000-cap. festival, headlined in 2017 by Aphex Twin and Run the Jewels, has been rumoured to be moving to Brockwell Park in south London since the announcement of Goldenvoice UK’s new All Points East festival. Goldenvoice parent AEG has a five-year exclusive on Victoria Park; Live Nation/Mama’s Lovebox and Citadel festivals also understood to be moving to Brockwell Park.
Field Day’s move has yet to be officially confirmed, but organisers held a consultation with local residents last night to discuss plans for the 2018 festival.
“The award-winning event has taken place in Victoria Park every year since 2007, with the 2018 edition being planned for its new home at Brockwell Park”
“The award-winning event has taken place in Victoria Park every year since 2007, with the 2018 edition being planned for its new home at Brockwell Park,” reads a letter to sent to residents.
According to one person present at the meeting, however, Eat Your Own Ears still has some work to do winning over local residents: Most are “not at all happy” about having an increased number of festivals in the public park, the source tells IQ, with one lamenting that the green space could become “one big urinal”.
Field Day 2018 will take place on 2 and 3 June.
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SJM announces Neighbourhood Weekender for May 2018
SJM Concerts has announced a new music festival, Neighbourhood Weekender, for the last week of May 2018.
Simon Moran’s company becomes the second UK promoter to launch a new event over the May bank holiday weekend, after AEG’s Goldenvoice UK with All Points East in Victoria Park, London – and the second to stage a festival in a green space of that name, with Neighbourhood Weekender set to take over Victoria Park in Warrington, Cheshire, on 26 and 27 May.
Warrington’s Victoria Park was the location for the first V Festival in 1996. Moran owns the city’s rugby league team, Warrington Wolves.
The new festival shares a name with city-centre event Neighbourhood Festival, launched by SJM in Manchester in 2016.
“Victoria Park is the perfect space to host our new festival”
An SJM spokesperson tells IQ the line-up, featuring “some of the biggest bands and hottest new artists”, is set to be announced next week. Daily capacity is expected to be 25,000.
“Neighbourhood Weekender is already shaping up to have a great line-up,” say SJM promoters Luke Temple and Jack Dowling. “Victoria Park is the perfect space to host our new festival. We can’t wait to come back for what is going to be an amazing weekend of live music across three stages, along with a hub of local food and drinks on offer.”
V Festival, promoted by SJM, Metropolis Music, MCD Productions and Live Nation, is set to be rebranded in 2018 after Virgin pulled its sponsorship after 22 years.
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All Points East adds headliners LCD Soundsystem, Björk
Björk and LCD Soundsystem have been confirmed as further headliners for All Points East, joining the xx for the first weekend of Goldenvoice UK’s newly announced ten-day festival in London’s Victoria Park.
All Points East (APE), announced last week, will be staged in the 213-acre east London park from 25 May to 3 June 2018, and combine two weekends of music with a BST-style free-to-access midweek offering. Goldenvoice owner AEG has been awarded exclusive use of the park for events until 2022, forcing Field Day, Lovebox and Citadel to relocate to pastures new, rumoured to be Brockwell Park in south London.
The new additions to the 40,000-a-day-cap. festival were revealed at a launch party at the Approach Tavern in east London last night. They also include Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix, Glass Animals, Close, Dixon and George Fitzgerald on the LCD Soundsystem-headlined 25 May event; Lorde, Sampha and Rex Orange County on The xx-headlined 26 May; and Beck, Father John Misty and Flying Lotus 3D on the Björk-headlined 27 May show.
The National, meanwhile, headline a headline show, APE Presents, on 2 June, also featuring the War on Drugs, Future Islands, Warpaint and the Districts.
“LCD Soundsystem and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are two of the best live acts in existence”
“It’s an honour to be asked to play a night with such stellar headliners,” says Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley. “LCD Soundsystem and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are two of the best live acts in existence. In fact my favourite show of all time was LCD in 2007 at Reading Festival. It’s where I met our drummer, Joe. And Karen O is one of the greatest frontpeople of all time, and a hero of mine
“We’ll have to up our game, then we’re definitely going to hang around and have a wild one. After party at my house… Can’t wait!”
The latest line-up poster is below:
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London’s parks set for 2018 festival boom
London’s parklands and open spaces are gearing up for a huge 2018 festival summer, following a slate of new announcements – and with more events believed to be in the pipeline.
In the last 24 hours alone, AEG announced the launch of a new ten-day event, All Points East, following its securing a multi-year contract for exclusive use of Victoria Park in Bow, east London, for events, while rival Festival Republic revealed it is adding a headline show by Liam Gallagher to its programming for Finsbury Park next year, alongside the existing Wireless and Community Festivals.
AEG’s exclusivity on the 213-acre Victoria Park leaves at least three festivals by other promoters without a home for 2018, with Eat Your Own Ears’ Field Day already confirming it will be “upping sticks” for an as-yet-unannounced location elsewhere in London.
Both Field Day and Live Nation/Mama’s Lovebox and Citadel festivals are rumoured to be decamping to Brockwell Park in Brixton, south London, in 2018, where they would share the 26-acre space with indie events such as Sunfall Festival and Gala Brixton.
In addition to Wireless, Community and Liam Gallagher’s As You Were, Festival Republic has applied to Haringey Council for permission to stage a “music event” with a daily capacity of 20,000 from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 May. (A spokesperson for the promoter declined to comment.)
Festival Republic has applied for permission to stage a “music event” with a daily capacity of 20,000 from 4–6 May
Also in Finsbury Park, council minutes reveal Slammin’ Events plans to reprise its Southport Weekender/Tranz-mission and Hospitality/Abode in the Park events in 2018, with the festivals pencilled in for 9–10 June and 22–23 September.
Back in south London, meanwhile, Lambeth Council has given permission for an “unprecedented” 110 event days on Clapham Common in future, paving the way for new events to join the likes of SW4, Let’s Rock and Madness’s House of Common, while Crosstown Concerts has confirmed OnBlackheath will return to the park of the same name next year following a successful debut event this summer.
Finally, in Hyde Park – a grade I-listed, 350-acre royal park in Westminster, and London’s most famous – AEG has exclusive rights to produce festivals until at least 2019. And with almost half a million people attending its flagship British Summer Time event in 2017 alone, don’t bet against that relationship lasting well into the 2020s…
After IQ revealed in September that London is by far Europe’s leading city for live music, and the third biggest in the world, mayor Sadiq Khan paid tribute to the city’s “incredible nightlife” and called London a “powerhouse for music”.
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