Luton Council has unveiled plans to hold an annual three-day music festival at Stockwood Park with capacity for almost 15,000 people after the town’s success in hosting BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend there in 2024.
More than 100,000 people attended the music extravaganza, which boosted the town’s economy by £7million according to an independent report.
Luton pop star Myles Smith made his festival debut on home soil before going on to global fame, while RAYE and Coldplay were among the headline acts. Frontman Chris Martin famously closed out the show with a specially written song about Luton, called ‘Orange’ in honour of Luton Town FC’s club colours and a tongue-in-cheek pre-festival campaign led by BBC Three Counties Radio to get Coldplay to change the name of their smash-hit ‘Yellow’, due to the colour’s association with the Hatters’ football rivals, Watford.
Later this month (September 12), Stockwood Park will host The Kaiser Chiefs, with the ‘I Predict A Riot’ rockers headlining a full day of live music as part of the council’s ‘Party in the Park’ 150th anniversary celebrations of becoming a borough. Ten thousand people are expected to attend to watch acts that include Luton’s own Olivia Lynn and JW Paris.
Licensing papers due to be considered by the council’s Licensing Panel tomorrow (Thursday, September 3) reveal plans for a festival to take place for no more than three days each calendar year, from Friday to Sunday, with the public able to attend between 11am and 11pm.
The application, submitted on behalf of Luton Council by their head of culture and creativity, Corey Albone, would allow for live and recorded music, performances of dance, films and similar entertainment, as well as the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises. The application states that up to 14,999 people could attend at any one time.
The proposed licence would begin on September 11, 2026 and describes the event site as a separate fenced area within Stockwood Park.
But the application appears to establish the council’s ambition to make Stockwood Park a regular large-scale music and entertainment venue, rather than simply providing a licence for the forthcoming Kaiser Chiefs show.
Crucially, though, the documents do not name any artists or give a date for the proposed annual festival. They establish the framework for an event of up to 14,999 people for a maximum of three days a year, rather than confirming that a particular festival or line-up has already been booked.
However, the proposal has already attracted an objection from a local resident living close to Stockwood Park.
The resident raised concerns across all four of the licensing objectives: prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance and protection of children from harm.
They said they were concerned that alcohol consumption at large entertainment events could increase the risk of disorder in the surrounding residential area and that criminals could potentially take advantage of police and security resources being focused on the festival.
The resident also raised concerns about intoxicated people entering surrounding residential areas after the event, with potential impacts including noise, nuisance and altercations.
They said: “The Stockwood park area of Luton is generally a calm, green and safe space for people to enjoy the natural environment in a relaxed manner.”
The resident added: “I feel that Stockwood is a lovely environment that is a great feature of Luton.”
But they argued that large, alcohol-based events could expose residents and other park users to “potentially unsafe encounters with intoxicated individuals from elsewhere”.
The license application states that no representations were received from any of the responsible authorities. The only representation listed in the report is from the local resident.
The application contains a series of proposed safeguards aimed at addressing the concerns which could arise from an event of this size.
Noise is another significant issue addressed in the application. It states that no amplified music would take place after 10.30pm, despite the wider licence potentially allowing entertainment and alcohol until 11pm.
Amplified music levels would be set by the council, while a professional noise monitoring team could carry out noise propagation tests to ensure the licence conditions were being followed.
The organisers also promise advance information for local residents, measures to minimise traffic disruption and instructions for festival-goers to leave quietly after the event.
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