Little London Fields Festival IS CANCELLED AGAIN!
This from www.littlelondonfields.co.uk
COUNCIL CANCELLATION
Thursday, May 05, 2011
It is with much sadness, frustration and regret that we (the organisers) have had to cancel this years Little London Fields on June 4th, 5th.
Last year was a huge success and we have planned another amazing event full of amazing Art, live musical performance, optimism and positivity; however Hackney council do not want the event to take place. We are still fighting this decision as we believe it unjust and incoherent given that last year was such a success and there were huge improvements in place to ensure that the event went ahead again safely (last year we reported zero crime) & with more emphasis on the artistic programming.
Despite petitions in favour of the event, endorsements from event industry professionals and the obvious boost to the local economy along with ZERO crime at last years event: Hackney council are opposing the event in its current form.
We are devastated and want to take this oppertunity to thank all the people whom have worked hard on this project & made last year a reality. Words can’t put into perspective how frustrated and solemn we are by the councils’ response. However we must salvage the enthusiasm, hard work and dedication of all those whom have helped to organise the festival and are attempting to hold a free event very close to or on the park, on a smaller scale that will provide an opportunity for the acts we have booked to perform and also to reward those who have remained loyal to the LLF cause.
In the interim, I just finally want to take this opportunity to all the volunteers at LLF for their unparalleled support, work ethic and resilience through the difficult times we have endured.
Thank you for your time, more information regarding the replacement event will be published online shortly. In the interim, please keep the faith, we are in the process of organising other free events with the same, honest, passionate ethos we instilled in Little London Fields.
Alex Daw
Festival Organiser
LLF XXXX
staystylish
Shame.
Noise was definitely an issue last year as I live a stone throw away from the park, it was kinda annoying. I read some of the minutes from their committee meeting in January. Seems like the board wouldn’t approve it unless there’s some improvement plans issues arose from last year’s.
staystylish
IT’S BACK ON!!!!!!!!! (but postponed to August)
Hackney Council have had a change of heart, and the festival has now been changed to a one day event (as opposed to two) and the date has been moved to Saturday 20th August 2011.Festival organiser Alex Daw said: \I think the council were a bit concerned of the scale and ambition of last years event given how successful it was and how busy the park has become over the summer months.”He added about the change of date “It’s such a shame as June 4th & 5th were concrete for us and a way of laying down the gauntlet to the rest of the festival calendar we cant do that now but will do everything we can to ensure that the festival in August will be special.”http://www.dalstonpeople.co.uk/groups/livemusic/Little-London-Fields-Festival-2011-Cancelled/story-11110044-detail/story.html“
ewebber
Organisational nightmare for LFF, but good news that it’s back
staystylish
Another article about this reschedule announcement.
From Hackney Hive:
Last years festival was a resounding success by all concerned so it was a surprise when last week the Little London Fields Festival organisers announced it’s cancellation.
Despite last summer’s event being crime free the organizers say Hackney council opposed the event in “its current form” and left them with no other option but to cancel the June 4-5 dates.
Yesterday one of the event organizers Alex Daw announced that the festival was back on again. “There was a conflict of interest with the council which has now been resolved” claims Daw. “The festival has been re-scheduled for Saturday August 20th for one day as opposed to two this year. I think the council were a bit concerned of the scale and ambition of last years event given how successful it was and how busy the park has become over the summer months.”
A free festival Little London Fields Festival showcases an array of fresh talents including an eclectic alternative mix of contemporary art cutting edge fashion design and dynamic new music from some of the best up and coming talent around.
Did anyone mention food? Yes they have it. Last year they had about 20 local food stalls ales and cocktails to sample. This year they promise the same.
For more information please visit their website
http://www.hackneyhive.co.uk/index/2011/05/little-london-fields-festival-is-back-on-sat-20th-august/“
davo
TBH I think last years festival was a mess…
Towards the end the music was getting louder and louder and I saw a number of people urinating in the S.W corner.
It ‘s not surprising the locals voted against it. The park is too small for that sort of ‘music’ event.
goodlegs
I’m a massive music fan and go to a ridiculous number of gigs and festivals each year. I do remember having a picnic in the fields while some festival was going on inside a fenced area and it being surprisingly loud.
I guess there is Victoria Park nearby which is better suited to loud gigs.
staystylish
@davo Yeah, it was progressively getting louder and I could hear the noise from my flat! It was annoying. Given any weekends now, there are always people urinating in the park! Don’t even start me on the SEA of rubbish they left behind at sunset! Kudos to the park rangers cleanup crew and have the park cleaned by next morning.
@goodlegs I think the fenced-off festival you were refering to was Secret Cinema. They fenced-off because it’s not a free event.
Victoria Park is definitely better choice for larger, louder multi-stage events. Perhaps we should have some kind of London Fields Arts & Craft Folk/Acoustic Festival instead? That can bring the noise down!
ewebber
The festival is off again, more over here: http://www.littlelondonfields.co.uk/_blog/little_London_Fields/post/John_Wade_Cancels_Little_London_Fields/
staystylish
This is a letter i got from the festival:
It is with the utmost remorse & regret that Mr John Wade at Hackney Council has cancelled the event for unfounded reasons.Firstly we would like to apologise if anyone has made plans to come to our event, we are deeply saddened you can’t.We strongly believe John Wade & Hackney Council had no intention of this event taking place and in turn led people astray and for this we sincerely apologise.Our intention was to create a fun, free, community festival that local, national and international people could enjoy on their doorstep, as we successfuly did last year; which was well documented! This cant happen now. The legacy of last year has been tarnished and we are now looking to other boroughs and venues to facilitate this optimistic, one of a kind event.Londons’ Biggest Little Free festival is dead due to one mans’ unreasonable views. For more information please head to our website ‘www.littlelondonfields.co.uk’Any issues with the decision or to make your opinions heard please contact nicola.baker@hackney.gov.uk or follow this link: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/w-complaints-form.htm
davo
It’s a shame that it’s canceled again but I think the organisers have shot themselves in the foot with the attack/post on their website against John Wade. London councils DO communicate with each other and I wouldn’t be surprised if they have now been blacklisted.
We all have to deal with council individuals and their sometimes strange rules but there are ways to do this.
alwaldo
Hey all, just seen this; As I started (and ultimately finished the festival) I wanted to give my inside opinion.The first and only year was a free event which was funded completely privately, it was free, it was un-fenced (even though we would have preferred this but Hackney Council wouldn’t allow it to be fenced) none of the acts were paid, no one profited apart from charity collectors & in an area prevalent for gangs there was not ONE crime reported or incident had to dealt with by the police or internal security. With regards to the rubbish, we found it impossible to control numbers without fencing, also this led to people simply bringing in their own food, BBQ’s and alcohol which was frustrating and I for one was clearing up the rubbish until noon the following Sunday. There’s a lesson learned there but I can’t help but feel it was unavoidable given the fencing issue, we simply didn’t have the man power (despite having 30 volunteers0 to collect all that waste, Hackney Waste picked up a few bags then simply left us to it as they said they had an ’emergency at Mabley Green’. Apologies to the neighbours that reported noise issues, we had sound engineers and noise limiters on site with decibel readings being taken at every stage throughout the event from 1 pm-9pm. It was our first year and the first time I had ever undertaken such a big project, all based on the optimism, free spirit and dedication of a few local people. I feel really privileged to have created this event and worked with such supportive people, all working for a common gain. The reason we issued our statement online was due to the sheer unfathomable nature of the way we were instructed then treated in our almost two years of dealing with Hackney council and in particular the gentleman mentioned before. We asked to relocate to another of the 40 or so parks in Hackney but were simply ignored. We made multiple visits to supportive councilors, had a petition and also (despite some comments) had resounding local support with 4k plus people giving emails addresses and signing up to attend and support this years event. It’s been two years of working around our jobs for no money just trying to put some music and art on in a public space at no cost to anyone (we had to pay the council for the space), we had local charities and over 100 local,national and international Artists all contributing to this years event. It was deemed safe and the main issues from last year; Noise & litter had been combated aswell as the introduction of a fence to control numbers. On the record I can say after multiple attempts to contact the noise team we NEVER received a reply, they must be busy guys.. We were advised by the councils’ ‘events team’ to re-apply after the initial refusal for June and jumped through every hoop of constantly differing sizes to obtain a letter of pre-approval. We were then invited to the town Hall to present the event and answer any further question in what appeared a formality, I was advised post this by the chief licensing sergeant that this was \one of the best presentations at HEAT I had seen” (Hackney Events & Actions Team) yet after weeks of promises and waiting I personally recieved a letter from JW that was just a string of nonsensical insults that bore no fact truth or evidence. We all felt disgusted hurt and let down; hence the name drop! I have no gripe repeating this information as it’s completely factual and true we all worked so hard and just wanted some form of a reposte or justice from two years of hard work. We never got it nor will so bridges in this borough council wise can remain on fire as far as we are concerned we were simply working our backsides of when really the council and in particular JW had no intention of the event taking place. I have to walk my dog in that park every day and am constantly seeing rule breaks when events occur that defy what was enforced in conversations and emails with the council the green spaces and events department has let thousands of people down I will not shudder at mentioning this to anyone whom may want to listen. It’s easy posting comments online when you have no experience of a topic conversation or real life event we lived this and that’s the last word on the matter onwards and upwards! Thanks to all whom supported and those who genuinely tried to make a difference apllogies to St Josephs whom were due to make a collection this year! Ill donate some more artwork for the auction this year! Best wishes and thanks AlxLLF RIP xXx”