Tramlines, a popular festival hosted in Sheffield, has been licensed permission to host in Hillsborough Park by the charity the City Council’s Trustee Sub-Committee for 2024.
Tramlines Festival is one of the UK’s longest-running, city-based music festivals, hosted in Sheffield since its first festival in 2009.
The festival has taken place in Hillsborough Park since 2018 after the original premises licence was granted to Tramlines Event Limited.
However, last year’s Tramline event led to the discussion of whether Tramlines should still be granted permission to be located in Hillsborough Park this year.
In 2023, the festival was described as a ‘mud bath’ due to heavy rainfall and ‘adverse weather’ during the events’ weekend.
It was reported that ‘extra groundwork repairs’ were needed to help restore Hillsborough Park after the weekend was finished.
This led to a comprehensive review of whether the Charity Trustee Sub-Committee should allow the festival to be hosted in the park.
The review took place on the 4th of March which resulted in an agreement granting approval for a revised licence agreement.
This included a fee scheduled for the next five events in Hillsborough Park.
Councillor Ian Auckland, Chair of the Charity Trustee Sub-Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “It is crucial that we protect our parks and it’s great to see that we have revised our licence agreement to reflect this”
He added: “Tramlines Festival bring enormous benefits to the city and is enjoyed and celebrated by many.”
As part of the agreement, £10,000 of the annual fee for Tramlines will be used to improve, replace, or install equipment or facilities to advance the park.
The licence agreement has stated to ‘provide protection for the Hillsborough Park Charity’ and to ‘consider the best interest of the park’.
Gary Clifton, Major Events Manager at Sheffield City Council, said that hosting Tramlines at Hillsborough Park will ‘represent a positive benefit for the park’.
Gary Clifton added: “Events like Tramlines builds Sheffield’s brand and reputation.” and “is a highlight in Sheffield’s calendar events.”
If the review rejected Tramlines to be hosted in Hillsborough Park, it would have been suggested to move the Tramlines festival to a different city.
Tramlines Festival states it is ‘proud to call Hillsborough Park our home’ after hosting there for the past 6 years.
