Words: @CamJohnst0n
There is a call for Finsbury Park’s popular Wireless Festival to be banned by residents in a response to last year’s riots caused by gatecrashers that forced their way onto the festival site.
At least 8 people were arrested at the event, one on accounts of actual bodily harm and another on account of knife possession.
Residents complain that the festival, which saw 150,000 people walk through its gates over a busy July weekend, left Finsbury Park a desert, with laughing gas canisters and broken glass littered across the grounds.
Campaigners, Friends of Finsbury Park, claim the festival is oversized and attracts anti-social behaviour. The group claim that the festival spoils the atmosphere around the park during the July weekend as residents feel intimidated and unsafe whilst it goes on.
MPs local to the festival, David Lammy (Tottenham) and Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) have both voiced their concerns, with Mr Lammy announcing he was “deeply concerned about the environmental damage and significant loss of amenity” for local residents.
Wireless Festival organisers have made their case to the Haringey council, requesting permission to stage the event across July 8 weekend, but are yet to comment about Friends of Finsbury Park’s campaign.
Could London’s showcase Urban music event be cancelled this year? Watch this space, as this story is sure to develop in the coming months leading up to the Festival’s proposed dates.