A NEW dance music festival is being planned for Eastville Park.
The Kinetics Island Festival would be held over two days in September, with up to 15,000 people attending each day.
The event is the idea of Circular Productions, the team behind Bristol venues Motion, the Marble Factory and Document.
Organisers say that, if they are granted a licence by the city council, the first festival would take place over the weekend of September 21-22 this year.
The first day would be for electronic, jungle and drum & bass music, with the second dedicated to electronic and world music, with entry to over-18s only.
Details of the line-up and ticket prices, if the event wins a licence, have yet to be revealed.
If the event is a success they hope to put on bigger festivals – with a maximum capacity of 25,000 – as well as smaller, community-focused events at other times of the year.
A licence application is being made to the city council, after months of negotiations between organisers and the authority over use of the park as a festival site.
If it goes ahead it will take place two years after the last music festival to be held at the park, Tokyo World, was staged in September 2022.
Last year Tokyo World was cancelled, with organisers citing “too many growing challenges with using Eastville Park…that cannot be overcome”.
Love Saves The Day left the park in 2019 and is now held at Ashton Court.
Circular Productions held an online consultation event in February, when residents raised concerns over issues including noise and preventing antisocial behaviour in surrounding areas.
Festival owner Martin Page said: “We’ve been trying to find a site for a number of years now.
“We settled on Eastville Park because it seems to be a good solid park to do a festival in and we think we can manage it well.”
He said Ashton Court had not been offered by the council as a site.
The festival would take up a smaller area than Tokyo World, covering the lower part of the park between Muller Road and the lake, above the M32.
The area around the main stage would have a capacity of 10,000 people, with a 4,375-capacity big top tent and smaller 2,500 capacity stage.
Muller Road would be closed between Fishponds Road and the M32 during the festival – with residents allowed access and shuttle buses laid on for festival-goers.
Noise and toilets among neighbours’ concerns
A noise management plan is being drawn up, with monitoring during the festival and speakers facing away from the most densely-populated areas.
But residents said it was impossible for people living nearby to avoid the sound.
One said: “The bass starts at 11am and it’s like a drip torture.”
Another said: “There’s no escape for residents from the sound. For some it’s a nuisance but for others it’s distressing, because they can’t get away from it.”
Residents also stressed the importance of adequate toilet provision, after bad experiences with large numbers of previous festival-goers using front gardens.
Other issues raised included contingency plans to protect the park from damage if the festival was hit by rain.
Many of the letters informing residents of the consultation had not arrived – something Circular Productions said was down to problems with a delivery service which would not be used ahead of the next consultation meeting.
Organisers want long-term relationship with Eastville Park
Event director Millie Devereux said: “We want to grow the festival sustainably in Eastville Park.
“We want to have a real engagement with Eastville as an area and make sure we’re putting on a diverse selection of events, as well as a music festival.
“We want to continue to hold events in Eastville Park for a number of years.
“We don’t want to wreck the park because we want to come back and it’s not in our interests to damage the area we want to come back to in the year following.”
A website with details of ticket prices and the line-up is due to go live during March, with a dedicated community page containing information for residents.
A community hotline would go live in September and be staffed throughout the event.
Volunteer group the Friends of Eastville Park has been contacted by the organisers, and trustees from the group also attended the online meeting.
Chair Sarah West said: “It’s early days yet and nothing has been granted or agreed by the council, so it’s important for residents to engage with the process and get concerns listened to by the organisers.
“There is a safety advisory committee at Bristol City Council that must be satisfied before any approval is given for the festival.
“Eastville Park neighbourhood is a heavily residential area and people rightly have concerns about the growth of any festival that could bring 25,000 visitors per day in future.
“Commercialisation of parks is often a contentious issue and one that needs to be managed carefully. That being said, a properly managed small scale festival in Eastville could be welcome and bring many benefits.”
She said some of the £40,000 the Friends spent on recent play park improvements came from donations from Love Saves The Day and Tokyo World.
Residents who want to find out more about the festival can contact the organisers by email at community@kineticsisland.co.uk.