The Brockwell Park event has been canceled after the site was ‘fixed’ by festivals

A free community event in a south London park was canceled on Wednesday after four bank holiday weekend festivals left the site “trashed” and covered in mud.

Brockwell Park, in Lambeth, hosted four days of festivals at the weekend and was due to host the family-friendly Brockwell Bounce on Wednesday.

Brockwell Live, which organizes the series of events in the park, said it was implementing “extra ground protection” ahead of the Mighty Hoopla on June 1 and 2 and the Lambeth Country Show on June 8 and 9.

Lambeth Council says there is “an agreement” that any repairs are paid for by Brockwell Live, adding that the local authority invests £500,000 a year in maintaining the park.

Brockwell Live hosted four festivals in the park from Friday to Monday – Project 6, Wide Awake, Cross The Tracks and City Splash.

Peter Bradley, chairman of Friends of Brockwell Park, said the green space had suffered “long-term” damage from the summer festivals.

“Nature takes a long time to recover,” he said. “The damage to the ground from these vehicle movements, these thousands and thousands of people is long-term.

He said Lambeth Council was “seeing the pound signs”.

“It’s not the best Brockwell Park can be, it’s the worst.”

One local man, who did not want to be named, added: “I’m a musician and I don’t think it’s right. The land is just destroyed.

“This is our local community space and I think community spaces need to stop being used so frequently for these profit making events.”

One family told BBC London they got free tickets to City Splash because of how close they lived to the park.

“Honestly, it’s pretty fun, if we can get free tickets for residents then that’s great,” Francesca Ratnatunga said.

She added that while they supported events in the park, they were concerned about the impact on the environment.

“It was a bit of a mudfest,” Luke Heslop said. – Everything was a bit agitated.

“I would really like to know where the revenue that has come into the neighborhood is going.”

Local Selfet Kryeziu said he supported the events in the park.

“It’s once a year, it’s multi-cultural and I really like it,” she said. “We’re excited to come next week. I think that’s a good idea.”

A spokesperson for Brockwell Live said: “Following heavy rain during the City Splash festival on Monday, areas of the Brockwell Live event site became wet and muddy.

“The organizers have already started to implement additional ground protection measures to ensure the safety and enjoyment of visitors and staff at the upcoming Mighty Hoopla and Lambeth Country Show events.

“The team is currently laying wood chips and installing 20,000 square meters of additional materials on site, including entrances and stages.”

They added: “Unfortunately, due to the condition of the park, it has not been possible to go ahead with the Brockwell Bounce event.”

The spokesman added that Brockwell Live would fund the “regeneration of the park” “with the aim of returning the majority of the site to the community as soon as possible”.

“The organizers apologize for the disruption this will undoubtedly cause,” they added.

“Further updates will be made directly to the community and ticket holders in the coming days.”

Lambeth Council said: “The council is currently reviewing the impact of the rainy conditions on future events planned in Brockwell Park for the remainder of May and early June.

“There is an agreement that any repairs required to the park will be paid for by the event organiser, not Lambeth Council.”