Plea to stop major events at Finsbury Park after Wireless ‘chaos’

“Destructive” major events should no longer be held in Finsbury Park following concerns over the handling of this year’s Wireless Festival, according to a local voluntary group.

The Friends of Finsbury Park says major events restrict access for residents, damage the park and lead to noise and antisocial behaviour. It wants the events to be held at purpose-built venues and for Haringey Council to fund the park directly instead of relying on revenue from ticket sales.

More than 1,500 people have signed an online petition backing the group’s calls. It comes as the council faced criticism over the organisation of the Wireless Festival from 8th-10th July, with reports of police struggling to control crowds and festival goers climbing over fences to avoid being trampled.

Cardi B, Nicki Minaj and Roddy Rich were among the headline acts at this year’s Wireless, which is one of four major events to be held in the park this summer. The council says the events, which have a capacity of up to 50,000 attendees per day, help pay for the upkeep of the park.

In a statement, The Friends of Finsbury Park said residents had been able to enjoy the park for two years without being disrupted by major events, which could not take place during the Covid-19 pandemic. But this year, the return of the events removed “more than half” of the park from public use, including the tennis courts, it added. The group also complained of poor crowd control, noise and antisocial behaviour during the Wireless Festival.

The group said: “We strongly believe that after two years of respite […] residents are clear that this year should be the last year of major events in Finsbury Park. Events of this scale should stick to purpose-built event venues like the O2. Our public parks should be properly funded, and protected from destructive major events. Let’s love Finsbury Park.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrat opposition spokesperson for crime and communities Nick da Costa said the “chaos” at Wireless Festival reinforced the need to reduce the number and size of events at Finsbury park. He added: “The total lack of organisation around the festival caused misery to residents and festival goers alike, and is completely unacceptable. Haringey Council must act to ensure we do not see a repeat of these scenes at future events which are being held at the park.”

Julie Davies, Labour’s cabinet member for communities and civic life, defended the major events and said they “bring world-class music and entertainment for Haringey residents and thousands of visitors from across London and beyond”.

Cllr Davies added: “We should be celebrating the fact that we have world-class superstars like Cardi B, Nicki Minaj and George Ezra performing in our borough. Finsbury Park has a long history of staging big events, and with Covid restricting the lives of our young people for so long, music events like this help bring our communities back together to appreciate arts, culture and music.

“We will always take on board the views of our and residents, and there are a number of issues to consider around these events including how we get people in and out of the area, how we work with the joint boroughs and respect the local area. We had good stakeholder engagement with Islington and Hackney throughout last weekend, and the clean-up operation was one of the best.

“We ensure our residents can contact Festival Republic if there any issues, and that will continue to be the case for the events taking place this weekend. There is a hotline number for them to contact throughout the event.

“Income from major events helps to fund improvements to the amenities and facilities in the park, such as our children’s play areas and skatepark. These events will clearly benefit our local businesses, as could be seen throughout last weekend and along Green Lanes.”

To see the petition against major events at Finsbur Park:

Visit change.org/p/hands-off-our-park