The Brockwell Park event confirmed earlier this week that the festival would still take place, despite losing a legal battle over incorrect planning permission. 

You can check out the mxdwn coverage here, where the legal case and the reasons behind it are covered in thorough detail. It all centred around the argument that the park is out-of-use for 37 days a year due to events, which exceeds the legal limit of 28.

Many thought this would spell the end of the Brockwell Park festivals due for the summer, which include Mighty Hoopla, Field Day and of course Wide Awake. This was not the case though, as each festival declared that the show would go on and that they “look forward to opening the gates and welcoming festival goers later this week.”

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Wide Awake have found themselves in a unique position compared to the other festivals though, with headliners Kneecap being marred in controversy, and even legal battles, themselves.

Stemming from their politically-charged performance at Coachella this year – where the band reiterated their strong support for Palestine – the Irish rap trio have been the target of politicians, the media and now even the Metropolitan police.

In news which couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Wide Awake team, Kneecap member Mo Chara has been charged with a “terror offence” for displaying a flag “in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation.”

All of this negative publicity surrounding the festival and their main headliners prove that “not all publicity is good publicity”, as Wide Awake co-founder Keith Miller wrote in an open letter to ticket buyers.

Speaking in the open letter, Miller admitted that they have suffered from “2 stagnant weeks where our ticket sales flatlined when they normally fly.”

This will be Wide Awake’s fifth year running the festival, with Miller revealing that in that period costs have doubled, as well as “some pretty tasty legal costs to fork out as of late”.

To help the rising costs for the independently-run festival, they have released a new ‘Tell Your Friends’ scheme. Here, friends of ticket holders will have the opportunity to buy a ticket for £34.

Miller added that if one in four ticket holders successfully manage to persuade a friend to take up the offer, they’ll “be well on our way to where we need to be to stabilise the event so we can look at things in the summer and not have to be named after a bitcoin next year or just wrap the whole thing up.”

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Wide Awake takes place tonight, with Kneecap being joined by CMAT, English Teacher, Daniel Avery, Mannequin Pussy and many more. See the full line-up above.

If you know someone with a ticket, be sure to drop them a message and get involved in the ‘Tell Your Friends’ scheme. As the Wide Awake team said: “We know Kneecap’s headline show is going to be one for the ages.”

Last month local resident and member of the Protect Brockwell Park group, Rebekah Shaman, took Lambeth Council and event organisers Brockwell Live to court, arguing that they did not have the correct planning permission for the events.

Ms Shaman’s claim centred around planning laws which prohibit the change of use of parks for more than 28 days each year. Last week, the High Court ruled in favour of this argument, saying that the park would be used for as many as 37 days due to the scheduled events this summer.

The event organisers, however, have now given an official update on the festivals’ status, which include Mighty Hoopla, Wide Awake and Field Day.

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Writing on Instagram, Brockwell Live said: “Brockwell Live can confirm that all events in the series will go ahead as planned.

“Friday’s High Court ruling dealt with a particular point of law and whether an administrative process can be carried out correctly… We take our stewardship of Brockwell Park seriously.

“As we prepare to deliver these much-loved, culturally significant events, we remain fully committed to its care, upkeep, and long-term wellbeing. With setup nearly complete, we look forward to opening the gates and welcoming festival goers later this week.”

This dispute has created much debate within the local area and beyond. Many residents, such as Ms Shaman, believe that such events are leading to an accelerated decline of the parks well-being, with Shaman responding to the ruling by saying: “This has been going on for years, it isn’t a one-off situation and it has been a consistent deterioration of the park.”

However, there are many that believe events such as these are essential to London’s vibrant culture and that they are crucial to the local economy.

 

 

 

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The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) have been one of the biggest supporters of Brockwell Live and Lambeth Council, saying: “The local economy – including independent shops, pubs, restaurants, and hotels – which sees a surge in business during these festivals, would be hit hard.”

Since the ruling, Wide Awake, Field Day, and Might Hoopla have all come out with separate statements (see above), confirming that all festivals will still take place and reiterating their “commitment to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all”.

The situation has also created much debate on social media, with one user on X/Twitter stating that: “Real rock and hard place with this… there used to be so many free park events in London.”

Real rock and hard place with this. Noise complaint NIMBYism has so much of LDN tightly within its grip, but I also think its basically bad private companies can enclose public space to charge extortionate fees for us to see music. There used to be so many free park events in LDN https://t.co/5fKZgmixI2

— Arbeitology (@Arbeit_Fish) May 19, 2025

The first of Brockwell Park’s festivals is due to kick off this Friday with Wide Awake. Politically charged hip-hop trio Kneecap will headline the festival despite calls for their performances to be cancelled after their controversial Coachella performance.

It was announced in late March that five major events will take place in London’s Brockwell Park this summer, including popular music festivals Mighty Hoopla and Wide Awake.

Local residential group ‘Protect Brockwell Park’, however, have voiced their concerns about said events, arguing that the council have ‘manipulated planning laws’. They have also raised issues such as environmental damage and the blocking of public access to the park for an extended period of time.

The legal issue stems from Lambeth council granting a certificate of lawful development to events company Brockwell Live. This certification would allow the temporary change of use of a space without requiring planning permission for a maximum of 28 days.

The festival organisers, Brockwell Live, have claimed that its events only span a total of 17 days. However, Protect Brockwell Park are making the case that this fails to take into account the additional time the area is fenced off during construction of the site, claiming the park was out of action for 38 days last year.

Speaking on their crowdfunding page, the residential group said: “We are local people fighting a million-pound company whose unsustainable business practices are damaging our trees, disturbing wildlife, compacting the soil, and fencing off huge areas of the park for weeks at a time.”

Damage to Brockwell Park last year. Photo credit: London Centric

The group make it clear that they are not campaigning for the full closure of these events, they just want to have their concerns listened to and enacted upon. Local campaigner, Lucy Akrill, told London Centric: “We’re not saying there should be no festivals at all… but this is too big, too impactful.

“So many people within the community have just had enough with the fact that the council claims they consult with the community”, she continued: “We have got to the point where it feels like legal action is one of the few ways we can make the council listen.”

Whilst the festivals themselves last just two weeks, Akrill said that last years events left the park “out of use for the whole summer and a boggy mess for the whole winter.”

Although over £30,000 has been raised, not all residents agree with the campaign. There is an argument that only one side of the debate was being heard.  South London resident, Ana De Liz, had her say on the matter, telling London Centric: “This legal action is driven by wanting the festivals to go away. And I don’t want the festivals to go away.”

She highlighted the importance if Mighty Hoopla to London’s LGBTQ+ community: “You don’t really get a lot of LGBTQ+ friendly festivals in the UK.

“We’re seeing a huge decline in venues and spaces where people are allowed to dance, have fun, make friendships, and have a nice time.”

A Lambeth council spokesperson echoed these views, stating how much Lambeth’s LGBTQ+ community gets behind Mighty Hoopla, as well as the festival City Splash being “much loved by our Black communities and beyond.”

This is an ongoing issue throughout London. After two decades of austerity, local council’s claim that they need these events to raise money. But local residents will continue to battle against them, arguing that “huge amounts of money are being made by the operators” rather than for the community.