JD: You can’t run a show the size of Parklife without community impact. Is this still an ongoing initiative? Has it developed in its methods and concerns at all since it was established?
We’re not introducing MAST testing just yet at Parklife but watch this space for 2018.įI: Metropolitan festivals always have to consider the effect they have on their surrounding communities, and Parklife established a Community Impact Taskforce in 2015 to minimise its own footprint. The Loop are a very important part of the mix along with our medical team. JD: Absolutely, the use of drugs is the biggest threat to life at most music festivals, and we work very hard on a whole host of measures to mitigate the threat. Is this collaboration continuing in 2017, and if so has it evolved at all? But with the partnership working with Greater Manchester Police, Transport for Greater Manchester and our contractors Showsec & SEP, along with some very detailed planning, we have a plan that works.įI: Harm reduction organisation The Loop received a UK Festival Award a few years ago for its pioneering drug testing operation conducted at Parklife. Running 12 stages is quite straightforward! But getting 80,000 people in and out of a site safely and efficiently is the challenge. JD: It’s the audience size and it being a ‘metropolitan show’. How does Parklife differ in terms of the challenges it presents? We’ve also invested in some brand new décor, site dressing and set pieces from Decordia.įI: Ground Control works on several high-profile festivals, from Kendal Calling to Snowbombing. We’ve commissioned and built a new tensile stage and audience roof, and swapped out some of our big tops with some of Arena Structures TDS’s – a Polygonal and a TFS 50. But we don’t rest on our laurels, and we’ve made some significant changes this year – particularly in the structures we use. Jon Drape: 2016 was a very smooth running show and it was our fourth in Heaton Park so we’ve learnt quite a few lessons over the years.
#Parklife festival line up 2016 how to#
Insights spoke with Ground Control Managing Director Jon Drape and Parklife organiser Sacha Lord about the festival’s logistical considerations, its approaches to both marketing and programming, and how to move forward following the tragic events of the past month.įestival Insights: How has Parklife developed in this last year from a logistical and production standpoint? Were there any particularly significant lessons you learned from 2016’s event that you’re planning to apply this time? Parklife will return to Manchester’s Heaton Park from June 10 – 11, treating 80,000 revellers to sets from Frank Ocean, The 1975, Stormzy, Boy Better Know and many more across its two sold-out days.Īside from a multitude of characteristically prescient bookings, this year’s edition has also been marked by its auspicious and cryptic marketing campaigns, further investment into production and hospitality, and sadly, increased security measures undertaken in response to the UK’s recent terror attacks.
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