The Tramlines festival in Sheffield has agreed a deal with the city's council that will allow it to continue using Hillsborough Park as its venue. The new deal will increase what the festival pays to use the park.
Having originally been staged in venues around Sheffield city centre, Tramlines moved to the council-owned Hillsborough Park in 2018. A review of the festival's licence to use the park began in 2022, although after last year's edition there were additional issues to consider.
Torrential rainfall during the 2023 festival resulted in damage to the park that required months of repairs. According to the BBC, "grassed areas of the park had to be fenced off as experts in sports pitch renovation worked on the repairs and the council had warned the situation could not 'be repeated in future years'".
To that end, consideration has been given to how the park can be protected should any future editions of the festival experience extreme weather conditions.
A report prepared for a committee of the council states: "The current licence agreement has been in place since 2018 and following a review that started in 2022, coupled with the issues experienced following adverse weather in 2023, a comprehensive review of this licence agreement has taken place".
The new licence, the report adds, ensures "there is clear agreement on how the park will be protected".
Although we know that Tramlines Events Limited - which is owned by festivals company Superstruct - will pay a higher fee under its new deal, specifics of the arrangement are not known.
According to the Sheffield Star, the council report explains that the new fee to be paid by the festival cannot be made public because it is "deemed commercially sensitive information". It adds: “Tramlines regard their fee as commercially sensitive because the summer festival market is very competitive and the pricing of their tickets incorporates their costs and expertise".