GALA 2025

[Cyclemonkey]

Gell me about it.  We have a block of flats going up nextdoor to us,  18 months and counting of construction noise six days a week. 

[first mate]

15 hours ago, fishboy said:

We are back to the same construction racket 8am-8pm every day for the whole of this week. The wall is one of the last things to come down, probably on Saturday. Then we can see how much of a mess they've made, especially the quantity of non-biodegradeable litter trampled into the earth.

I am hoping that the damage will not be as bad this year, so that the field can be returned to use for the rest of summer, instead of waiting for reseeding.

I also wonder how the new bund has fared? It had some lovely wild flowers growing in and around it. Hope all that has survived.

Unfortunately, over the GALA period the park pond has suddenly become littered with plastic cups and bottles that have been thrown into the water (I assume thrown as not sure how else they would get in there). This may be pure coincidence but prior to last weekend the pond was clear. Does park management have a way to get onto the pond and fish all the plastic rubbish out, I wonder? It can't be good to leave it.

Edited May 30, 2025 by first mate

[Angelina]

Since the ES have posted such a glowing report of the festival, perhaps they'd be interested in a report into the resulting damage, or the Guardian?

[Jenijenjen]

"Unfortunately, over the GALA period the park pond has suddenly become littered with plastic cups and bottles that have been thrown into the water (I assume thrown as not sure how else they would get in there). This may be pure coincidence but prior to last weekend the pond was clear. Does park management have a way to get onto the pond and fish all the plastic rubbish out, I wonder? It can't be good to leave it."

it's been very windy the past few days, could be down to that 

[Angelina]

the pond needs cleaning regardless of the rubbish being thrown or blown

[first mate]

I suppose wind could have blown rubbish out of bins down into the pond. But I also counted three footballs and some smaller balls. Regrettably, there is also what seems to be a large dead carp or waterfowl, hard to tell at distance. I just hope the water quality is okay. I am not clear to what extent the pond is managed.

[Cyclemonkey]

Like most festivals these days, Gala  were using those heavy, hard plastic reusable cups that you pay a dsposit for.  It would be a pretty serious wind to blow those out of bins.

Edited May 31, 2025 by Cyclemonkey

[malumbu]

21 hours ago, Angelina said:

the pond needs cleaning regardless of the rubbish being thrown or blown

And they could cull the rats too!  Perhaps they could come to a deal with Gala 😁 

Ps I expect that the rats feed off food dropped throughout the year, and still see people feeding the ducks with bread.  

[alice]

Leave the rats and squirrels alone
 

[Jenijenjen]

26 minutes ago, malumbu said:

And they could cull the rats too!  Perhaps they could come to a deal with Gala 😁 

Ps I expect that the rats feed off food dropped throughout the year, and still see people feeding the ducks with bread.  

Yes, I was stopped in my tracks last week by a rat that had joined a number of pigeons feeding off some food left for the birds on the path around the lake.

[Cyclemonkey]

Peckham rats have nothing on the Crystal Palace park rats.  Those lads are absolute units.

[malumbu]

I don't eat meat but if I had an air rifle the various vermin would be very afraid.  I've trapped squirrels in the loft, I wont go any further on that one.

The Horniman Nature Reserve rats will take on any of yours, apart from....

Cox's walk which takes on another level.  During Covid it felt like you were in Hamelin.  

[fishboy]

On 30/05/2025 at 12:26, cookie said:

I do know that Gala had a team of litter pickers working non-stop the whole time I was there, so efforts are made to keep the park litter free.

Sorry for dragging this back on topic, but earlier I had a discussion with Luca the site manager who was also singing the praises of the 'new' waste management team. He invited me on to the ground to the east of the 'parkrun start' path to check out how well they'd done. Within 20 paces I'd picked up (and given to him) 2 cellophane filter tip wrappers, 3 fag butts, a 2" screw, assorted scraps of plastic wrappers....!

He awkwardly then said they were still onsite, and sent 1 guy out to litter pick. He also made the statement that it's "an impossible task".

I will be over there tomorrow to find, collect and document all the remaining litter, to assist with next year's consultation. I think it's important to pass on that type of information?

Edited May 31, 2025 by fishboy

[Blah Blah]

No need to wait until next year. They always run a post event feedback meeting. And yes, they were using some new contractors this year because the previous ones were not good enough by their own admission.

[alice]

Be reassured all is returned to original glory

[malumbu]

1 hour ago, fishboy said:

Sorry for dragging this back on topic, but earlier I had a discussion with Luca the site manager who was also singing the praises of the 'new' waste management team. He invited me on to the ground to the east of the 'parkrun start' path to check out how well they'd done. Within 20 paces I'd picked up (and given to him) 2 cellophane filter tip wrappers, 3 fag butts, a 2" screw, assorted scraps of plastic wrappers....!

He awkwardly then said they were still onsite, and sent 1 guy out to litter pick. He also made the statement that it's "an impossible task".

I will be over there tomorrow to find, collect and document all the remaining litter, to assist with next year's consultation. I think it's important to pass on that type of information?

Have a chat with him about employing voluntary litter pickers, they do this at many festivals, in return getting free entry.

[first mate]

3 hours ago, fishboy said:

He awkwardly then said they were still onsite, and sent 1 guy out to litter pick. He also made the statement that it's "an impossible task".

I will be over there tomorrow to find, collect and document all the remaining litter, to assist with next year's consultation. I think it's important to pass on that type of information?

I suspect it is really difficult as stuff gets ground in and that is the problem. My own view is the event should be moved to a more suitable site. It is fairly clear they want to expand, I think that is the biggest problem, the risk of the event getting extended or other event organisers getting in on the action.

It is great that the barriers are down and the park can be fully enjoyed again. The damage to grass does not seem as bad this year; I suspect that is because there has been much less rainfall.

 

[Moovart]

An interesting article from Journalist Jim Waterson about how much councils make from festivals....it starts with an article about 5g but scroll down for the festivals article 

 

https://www.londoncentric.media/p/real-5g-conspiracy-how-londoners-lied-over-their-phone-signal

[Penguin68]

This is the relevant passage, I believe

"Southwark Council (Peckham Rye, Burgess Park, Southwark Park) will earn a projected £440,000 from events in its parks in 2025, up from £340,000 in 2024. Events include GALA Festival in Peckham Rye, August’s Boiler Room, Jazz Café and Maiden Voyage in Burgess Park, and RALLY festival in Southwark Park."

What would of course be interesting to know is what they spend this on. Is there any transferred benefit to those local people who live around and use these facilities? But I wouldn't hold your breath for an answer.

Edited June 1, 2025 by Penguin68

[Moovart]

I was interested in this paragraph:

Are the local councils renting out their parks getting ripped off by the international festival operators and private equity companies who own the festivals?

[Penguin68]

The problem is, I'm not sure what the going rate is for park land for festivals of this nature. I'm sure they are paying less than outfits pay for access to the big stadia - but these have better facilities and are normally better for public transport. I am also sure that Councils could press for more, and should do so, but of course there isn't really a shortage of council lands to exploit, so these entrepreneurs could go elsewhere.

What I would like to know is how much of the suggested £440,000 this year for Southwark is net profit - what are their costs in getting and administering this let? If this is a gross figure then what do they actually have as 'surplus'?

But at least we have a starting point now - even if it's a guess I'm thinking it's a reasonably informed one.

[fishboy]

On 01/06/2025 at 09:49, Penguin68 said:

What would of course be interesting to know is what they spend this on.

These statements were in the Consultation Findings report published (later than promised) just before the licence was granted: 

"The site hire fee goes directly to supporting the delivery of the council’s Events service, which supports the delivery of up to 100 free-to-attend community events per year – please refer to section 1 (Licensing and income)"

I've drafted an email to request some more details of these "free-to-attend" events, as "up to" is a fairly meaningless description - could be 100, could be none? - and therefore doesn't help anyone to decide whether it is actually a benefit to the community or not. Even if it is 100, I'm not sure I could name even one of them?

"The site hire fee goes directly to supporting the provision of a grants fund – the Cultural Celebrations programme - please refer to section 1 (Licensing and income)"

A similarly meaningless statement in terms of gauging whether, or how much, this is a benefit to the local community. What is it, what does it do, how much of the fee goes to it?

And how can the fee go "directly" to two different things? Surely, "directly" means without deviation, straight to, without being changed or reduced?? Again, I'll be asking all these questions to the events dept.

I find it outrageous & insulting that a public body can try to justify such an intrusive & disruptive event with such flimsy and opaque "benefits", with zero figures or details to quantify them. They may as well not bother with a consultation, just say "Look, we can't be arsed to justify our decision, it's happening so just deal with it".

 

[fishboy]

* Big, sick & tired sigh *

Ok, so here is this year's small selection of Gala litter that has been left behind. I have to emphasise, it is only a small part of what is still there, collected on Tuesday from a relatively small area in the south of the ex-site. I also have to emphasise this only took about an hour of slow wandering, using only my eyes & hands - no specialist equipment, and I'm not a paid employee of a specialist waste management company. And to confirm, this is after "The site was checked at the end of GALA’s tenancy and found to be clear of event-related litter" by the Council / Parks Dept.

There's 488 items there, many of which would be potentially hazardous to children, pets & wildlife. Not least the small bag in the bottom left corner, still containing a suspicious white substance. I'm hoping to pass this on to the police for testing, ensuring it is recorded for the purposes of next year's licence consideration. 

Please - before anyone posts any comments defending this, denying it is festival related, insulting me, whatever - just go and have a close look yourself, particularly where the tents, stages & toilets were sited. It's obviously from the festival, and there's still loads of it there, all over our park. It is literally being trashed, year after year, despite repeated assurances from the organisers. 

I'm sick of it, it's just so depressing.

[David Peckham]

Would you take a tenner for the baggie?

There's four decent lines or a couple of 'Rockstars' in there.

Message me on here, or ask for 'Dave' in the Herne. Left hand side of the bar, normally.

[fishboy]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/26/cardiff-blackweir-festival-bute-park-dispute?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Another example of a badly sited festival, and a council bending over for the cash. What amazes me is the similarity in every way to Gala - large areas annexed but the council trying to convince everyone it's only a tiny part of the park. Claiming that the flora & fauna is being protected when the reality is a tick-box environmental survey that's not worth the paper it's written on.

All very depressing.