Park to host dance festival
TWO-DAY EVENT ‘FIRST OF ITS KIND’ IN THE CITY
MORE than 30 international acts are being lined up for Leicester’s “first dance festival”.
Beyond Festival will take place at Abbey Park on June 24 and 25.
Acts taking to the three stages on the Saturday will include Low Steppa, Sammy Virji and Leicester’s Murphy’s Law and PAX, alongside DJ sets from Skream, Danny Howard, Wilkinson and Dimension.
On the Friday evening, the festival will offer a classical celebration of house music.
Secret Symphony will present Ibiza Proms in the Park - an experimental orchestral show featuring some of Ibiza’s iconic anthems.
One of the event directors, Brina, said: “Leicester, we believe, has a fantastic history of, and love of, music in a festival type of event and we felt there was something missing.
“Talking to the events team at Leicester City Council and other people about what was missing from the city’s cultural programme and looking around the rest of UK, we felt as though Leicester was behind the curve in its cultural live event offer.
“Leicester City Council events team were supportive and said Abbey Park would be available and suitable.
“Because it is such as spectacular, wonderful park, and people these days want an experience, we felt that by doing this event, we were really enriching Leicester’s cultural events programme.”
Police had raised concerns about the scale of the event, which the force said would put pressure on it and other public services under pressure.
However, the council has granted an annual three-day licence for the event.
Brina said: “The licence was never about a three-day dance festival or three-day rave.
“It was about obtaining a licence to do a diverse range of events over a three-day weekend, which is what a lot of events do all over the country to maximise and make viable the event.
“We were encouraged by the council to do the orchestral event on the Friday because we felt it would be a wonderful event that was needed in the city.
“There’s a very clear difference in the demographics the event on the Friday will attract compared with the event on the Saturday.
“Our thought for future years is that Sunday could host a food and drink event.
“That explains the ethos and vision that we have to bring in the activity on the park and we think that will be embraced by visitors and also by businesses which will benefit massively from a diverse portfolio of events over a weekend – whether taxis, other licensed premises or accommodation providers.
“We’ve got a massive team of industry professionals to ensure that we deliver a good, safe event.
“We’ve been engaging with the countil since last year on the safety advisory group process, where we plan and discuss and work on any issues.
“There’s a real collaborative partnership working to make sure the event is a success in every respect.”
The event on June 24 will run from 5pm until 10pm and the event on June 25 from 11am until 10pm.