Music events in September - FAQs
Frequently asked questions about the 2022 music festivals in September in Beckenham Place Park:
Site map and key dates
The map below indicates changes to standard access for visitors between 30 August and 23 September.
Event dates and times
Saturday 10 September Naked City Festival, Midday - 10.00pm
Sunday 11 September Black Coffee Naked City Festival, Midday - 9.30pm
Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September Hospitality - in the woods, Midday - 10.00pm on Saturday, event closes at 9.30pm on Sunday
Rig and rerig dates
The site working hours during the event build and De-rig periods are 8am - 8pm.
Tuesday 30 August – site build starts
Monday 19th September – de rig starts
Tuesday 23 Sept – site vacated and handed over
General
Is the park open during the September music festivals?
Yes, the park is open for your enjoyment as usual. The event area is on the hill next to the lake and a portion of the parkland next to it, behind the Homestead.
The perimeter of the festival will have fencing around it between 5 and 23 September, with alternative routes indicated on the map above and on-site.
We’ve worked with the event organiser to minimise the closure of paths and other disruption to residents and regular park visitors’ routines. Please follow the signs indicating alternative routes.
Are there any road closures?
Yes, Highland Croft Road, Beckenham Park Road and Westgate Road.
Will the car park be open?
Festival Ticket holders and the general public are being asked not to drive to the park on event days unless necessary, for example, patrons with accessibility requirements (e.g. blue badge holders). We expect the park to be very busy and would like to prioritise those with access needs.
Most festival-goers are expected to travel via public transport. The car park will operate during the normal opening hours, with a cashless tariff payable between 8am and 5pm. If you must drive to the park, can’t find parking slots available, and decide to park nearby, please do so considerately.
The event organiser produced a detailed traffic management plan, which has been enhanced after taking the learnings from previous festivals. This involves an increase in stewards and traffic marshals.
Disabled parking arrangements
There is very limited parking available for blue badge holders. For event ticket holders, only pre-authorised vehicles will be granted access. Please contact the event organiser directly to organise this if you are a ticket holder. The contact details will be in your booking confirmation email.
Is normal park activity taking place?
Yes. The businesses that operate from the park will remain in operation, albeit some may decide to change opening hours. Please check with each business individually.
The fitness classes and park run also continue, as well as the volunteering sessions and other community activities. The public is also welcome to use the park as normal. The footprint of the festival is only a small portion of the entire 96 hectares of the park and there will be plenty of space spare for other activities such as walking the dog, exercise and social gatherings.
Why was an event such as this approved by Lewisham Council?
Lewisham Council has mostly enabled and approved smaller-scale events to take part in BPP’s grounds, such as open-air cinema, Sunday vintage fair and food trucks with music. BPP opted not to have as many events and as large as other parks of similar size and stature. Many events in the programme are free to attend and, in the main, the park has been left to be enjoyed freely by the public through picnics and other gatherings.
In 2022, Krankbrother self-imposed a limit of 10,000 attendees per day despite having been granted a license for a maximum 12,000 capacity. View past updates, presentations and video recordings of past community engagement here
It should be noted that these events are the largest in the park by a long measure, yet much smaller than other festivals in other South East London large parks.
Events in open spaces serve two important purposes:
1) Social value – we aim to provide a varied programme of events that serves a wide range of groups in the community
2) Revenue - Income generated from the hire of outdoor space is an important source of revenue for the upkeep of the park.
The BPP team work hard to balance these aims for the benefit of all.
Large event organisers are expected to contribute in other ways. Krankbrother contributes to the local economy, local charities and sustainability in various ways.
They are also working on a community youth programme linked to London Lewisham Borough of Culture. Details soon to be announced here.
Isn’t having a music festival adjacent to ancient woodland harmful to nature?
The application process took months and the plans were scrutinised by various entities and officers. An ecology report was produced to evaluate and minimise impacts and LBL’s conservation manager consulted. The event organiser committed to adhering to all recommendations of the ecology report. For example, all loud amplified music must be located 50m away from the ancient woodland and orientated in the opposite direction. The conservation manager continues to work closely with the event organiser to minimise impact on nature
Residents
Residents' Contact Number
The dedicated telephone number for residents is 07904948325. This phone is monitored during the build and break, and on event days.
What consultation was conducted in relation to these events?
The organiser has conducted an extensive consultation and a community communication campaign to engage with local residents and businesses. This has included various online public meetings. This direct engagement and the learnings from previous years, informed further improvements for 2022.
In 2022, Krankbrother self-imposed a limit of 10,000 attendees per day despite having been granted a license for a maximum 12,000 capacity.
Lewisham Council has worked closely with the event organiser to minimise disruption to local residents both from the boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley.
Both Lewisham Council and Krankbrother have liaised closely with Bromley Council officers to mitigate disruption to residents. This has included some road closures (see map at the top).
The BPP team have published regular updates about progress and the community engagement campaigns. Stakeholders can view past updates, presentations and video recordings of previous community engagement here
How are you minimising noise pollution?
Following feedback from 2021, a new noise management plan was created to reduce disturbance in the locality. This plan was approved by Lewisham Council. Key points can be found in this presentation by Krankbrother.
Throughout the events, noise will be controlled to overall limits agreed with Lewisham and Bromley Borough Council, and a new lower bass level agreed by all parties. A team of noise consultants will monitor levels from key locations around the park’s perimeter and at noise-sensitive properties, please note in 2022 and going forward there will be noise monitoring teams from both the event and the council.
If you have any concerns about the levels of noise generated during the events, in the first instance (and to enable the fastest response time from the event delivery team) you should contact the Residents’ Line - the most up-to-date number for this will be displayed on www.krankbrotherbppevents.com closer to and during the event.
You can also contact Lewisham’s Environmental Protection team direct; their up-to-date number will be displayed on www.krankbrotherbppevents.com closer to the event.
Soundchecks will be carried out on the day of the event rather than the day before to reduce disturbance. The time window for sound checks is 10 am to Midday, but they will not run for the whole duration of this time.
How will you manage anti-social behaviour?
Following feedback from 2021, to support the safe egress of attendees from Beckenham Place Park to local stations, and increased crowd management operation will be in place. Fencing, stewards, and security staff will be positioned along routes in greater numbers to deter anti-social or nuisance behaviour.
More details of this plan will be made available on www.krankbrotherbppevents.com
What will the park look like after the event?
The planning for this event included increased measures to minimise the impact on parkland. All the festival equipment will be removed from the park by the 23rd of September. As per 2021, the organisers will pay to remedy any damage caused and any reinstatement will be organised straight after the event.
The cleaning standard of the site within the perimeter of the event and wider park was widely praised in 2021. This level is being maintained, with enhanced measures outside the park en-route from and to the train stations now being employed with a large number of extra bins on the route agreed with the council.
How are you minimising disruption to local residents?
Unlike last year, there are no other large-scale festivals or engineering works planned in the area for the weekends of 10/11 and 17/18 September, thus reducing the cumulative disruption experienced last year.
Other than measures already mentioned above, Beckenham Place Park Gate (from the direction of Beckenham Junction) will be closed to traffic and pedestrians from 10am on Saturday and Sunday, with stewards positioned on various points to direct visitors. Event attendees are recommended to enter through the main entrance opposite Beckenham Hill station.
Signs will go up around the park in mid-August as a reminder to visitors of disruption to routines in September, and a map (posted above) has been made available for visitors.
We appreciate that large events such as this can inconvenience local residents. We would like to remind stakeholders that events of this scale are rare in Beckenham Place Park and that a programme of events in the park benefits the wider community, including local residents, by virtue of the varied programme offered and the funds raised for the upkeep of the park.
Trading opportunities
The food and drink lineup for 2022 is complete. If interested in future opportunities at Krankbrother events, please contact community@krankbrotherbppevents.com by the end of this year.