Thousands of music fans will once again flock to Platt Fields Park for this year’s Parklife Weekender festival after plans to move the event were dropped.
Rapper Dizzee Rascal and veteran rockers The Flaming Lips will headline the two-day festival, which aims to be the biggest in its three-year history.
It is understood organisers have extended the festival’s capacity by 10,000 tickets to meet demand, with 50,000 people expected to attend over the two days.
Council chiefs had explored potentially doubling the size of the event by holding it at Wythenshawe Park to further boost town-hall coffers, after the event made £60,000 last year.
But in the wake of a heated consultation process with local residents, the council has decided not to press ahead with plans to move this year’s event as it seeks to obtain a licence to hold outdoor ‘super-concerts’ at the park.
Coun Mike Amesbury, executive member for culture and leisure, said: “The organisers of the Parklife Festival had expressed an interest in moving to Wythenshawe Park, but it was always made clear that this was subject to the park being granted a licence to hold large concerts, following a public consultation.
“Our officers are now considering the responses to that consultation before the matter goes before a committee, and so it wouldn’t have been appropriate to move this summer’s festival to Wythenshawe as we wouldn’t have had sufficient time to properly plan such a large event.
Instead, the event will be held in Platt Fields Park and we will be working closely with our partners in the police and, of course, local residents to make sure the event is a success – and any issues such as noise, park maintenance, litter, and parking will be dealt with effectively.”
The Parklife Weekender is on June 9 and 10 with standard tickets priced at £59.95 for the weekend and £37.50 for a day, plus booking fees.
» For the full line-up and more information visit www.parklife.uk.com
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Dizzee Rascal and Flaming Lips to headline Parklife Weekender festival at Platt Fields Park
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You'd better all fix up, look sharp & get down there, if you don't get tickets you must be bonkers & if you like Fallowfield why not go there for a holiday?
Do you realise it makes sense?
booked
It is indeed very confusing, at the consultation meeting with Councilor Amesbury the question was asked how much did the parklife concert make last year. Yet no answer was available to the lady who posed the question by said Councilor. A follow up was asked if Parklife had started planning the event at Wythenshawe, an answer was provided "was not aware of " and re-stated by the local resident that there were tickets available on the internet for said concert albeit not yet ready for purchase.
I want investment in the park however with these concerts it has to be in agreement with the residents and any monies from the park have to go back into the park and not the overall coffers
Can Councillor Mike Amesbury please advise where the £60,000 income was subsequently spent in the Platt fields park?
Worked on the event last year and it made a mess of the park. I really dont like it that they close a park to host it put it on Heaton park there lots of space so locals still have there park and there a close motorway link and metrolink..
Who are Dizzy Lips and Flamin' Rascal? Sounds like they play for City!
I've just been through Platt Fields. I tried to tak my three year old daughter to the toilets but the disabled/baby-change toilet has workman's tape over the door, and the Gent's was in a disgusting state, as always.
Last year, half the park was closed for weeks and it was in a terrible state for weeks afterwards, so where has the money been spent when Platt Fields doesn't even have the most basic facilities.
And yet Parklife is announced AGAIN to great fanfare, with no consulatation for our local residents?
Alexandra Park is due to get 2.2 million spent on it. Maybe they could host Parklife?
All dizzies songs are the same nursery rhyme rehashed!
Unfortuntely, when the MEN reported on the "firey" meeting from last week. for some reason when someone asked if the MEN reporter, Steve Robson, was even at the meeting, the MEN would not allow any more comments to be posted after the question was asked nor was there a reply from the MEN. Out of the 70 or so people who attended the meeting, myself being one of them, I did not see Mr Robson. I met Mr Robson last year when I voluntered to help clean up the horrible act of vandalism that happened in the Horticultural centre (how many of you local residents remember that) but there was no sign of him at the meeting.
My point to this is the the meeting held last week was supposed to be about the licence application for Wythenshawe Park, not just one music concert, you failed to report of 3 other FREE family events that were planned for this year under the same licence, one of them was Bonfire Night, so what are people going to do now if these events are cancelled due to lack of funds and the application for the licence is refused. Maybe a 2 day event that should have the concert would have paid towards the FREE family events. So well done to the 70 or so local residents that may have contributed to the event being moved back to Platt Fields as you may have cost the rest of us some FREE events.
The staff at the park are dedicated and even though they got a real kicking last year when some LOCAL youths caused thousands of pounds worth of damage last year which the park had to finance most of the repairs, they still worked hard to get the Horticultural back open to us within 3 months, and yet they are still trying to take the park forward and get money in to make improvements and provide us with free events, they get kicked down yet again by so called local residents. So shame on you handful of NIMBY's.
Can I have a £59.95 reduction on my Council tax please? - this is an event mainly for non payers, such as students and 'out of towners' - not local residents and park users.