Greenwich’s Peninsula Festival will now kick off a week later than planned after a second event was cancelled.
If it Ain’t Dutch, it Ain’t Much! had been due to bring DJs to the festival site on Wednesday, but has been cancelled due to “circumstances beyond our control”.
The Peninsula Festival will now start on Friday, the day of the Olympic opening ceremony, which is due to be shown on a big screen on the site, Area 12, close to the Pilot pub.
It’s the second cancellation to hit the event, which has been given £50,000 of taxpayers’ money by Greenwich Council to fund “community” events including the big screen. The London Blues and Soul Festival was due to have been held on Friday and Saturday with performances from Jools Holland and Bill Wyman, but was also axed from the line-up.
The Area 12 site is still due to hold two other concerts, the sold-out Eastern Electrics festival and a show by Turkish act Beduk on 4 and 5 August.
Tickets for a “family funday” featuring reality TV star Mark Wright, set for 10 August, have also been pulled from sale, although festival organiser Frank Dekker said the event was still happening.
Plans for a beach at Delta Wharf and a campsite by Greenwich Millennium Village have also fallen through, and this website understands there is nervousness among companies due to take part in the event after seeing the festival’s plans alter so dramatically. A countdown on The Beach’s website suggests an opening date of 1 August, although no construction work has taken place on the site.
Even though the beach has so far failed to materialise, club organiser Circo Loco is still promoting an event there for 15 September – falsely claiming “no sound restrictions” for the site, a claim which has already landed it in hot water with residents across the Thames on the Isle of Dogs.
The Peninsula Festival also faces competition from other local venues for Friday’s opening ceremony. The Old Royal Naval College is playing host to a big screen, while Greenwich Yacht Club – which pulled out of the PF at a very early stage – is opening its doors to non-members during the Olympics. Lewisham Council is also operating a big screen on Blackheath for the Games.
The slow motion train crash that is the Peninsula Festival is surely no great surprise to anyone who has had dealings with Mr Dekker’s amateurish outfit.
I just hope there’s actually a stage in place before 10,000 people turn up for eastern electrics. Not holding out too much hope that the commitments around noise control and cleanup will be adhered to though.
Wow, Dutch show – cancelled. Blues show – cancelled. Family funday – cancelled. Beach – nowhere to be seen. Big screen – nowhere to be seen. Campsite – cancelled. So Frank, what are you giving us in return for OUR £50,000 apart from that grotty funfair encamped by the O2, sorry, North Greenwich Arena?
We can only hope you haven’t engaged G4S to provide the security. Can we have our money back?
G4S were the original security contractors. Doesn’t seem to be them now.
Jesus wept.
The countdown on the Beach’s website starts counting down at 10 days each time you visit it.
[…] follows the cancellation of the festival’s launch night, which had been due tonight, and the loss of last weekend’s London Blues and Soul […]
i find the comment on here by jonny about that grotty fairground encamped very offending i know the family that is their with the fair very well, They have been their now for 2 weeks ruining at a loss it has cost them money to get their they have put their time and hard work in to set it up only to be given false promises every day they are not beaning pay to be their they have to give the organizers a percentages of their takings. If you a had taken the time to just walk in their to talk to them i think your comment mite be a bit diffident