Finsbury Park

A PETITION that calls for an end to the Krankbrother festival in Finsbury Park has amassed more than 700 signatures.

The Friends of Finsbury Park are demanding that Haringey Council “stop sacrificing our park for private event company profit”.

The petition claims that the Krankbrother, which will welcome almost 10,000 attendees for six days in August, negatively impacts the health of the park, and prevents locals from accessing a green space during the height of summer.

Gio Iozzi, a member of the Friends of Finsbury Park who also set up community group “Haringey tree protectors”, called the Krankbrother festival an “undemocratic seizing of our space”.

Ms Iozzi said: “It’s terrible, most of us use the park two or three times a week, but we end up avoiding it most of the summer.

“In the summer, it feels like a hostile space, it doesn’t feel like our park any more. It feels like it’s been hijacked by commercial companies.”

Ms Iozzi explained that the group were mainly concerned about the impact of big events like Krankbrother on the ecology of the park.

She said: “We’re really concerned [about events like these] as the climate crisis deepens, and green spaces have become even more important to us.”

“It’s disturbing groups of birds which are still foraging and nesting at that time, and it’s filling the air with toxic pollution.”

Ms Iozzi added that Harringey were using the park as a “cash cow”, ignoring the needs of locals during the hot summer months.

“The set-up lasts a month, during the height of summer, when locals most need their parks,” Ms Iozzi said.

“I understand that austerity hit councils hard, but the most serious issue of our time is the climate crisis, and if we don’t look after these parks we won’t have them any more.”

A Haringey Council spokesperson said: “Finsbury Park has a long history of hosting events and Haringey is proud to continue this tradition by staging some of the biggest names in music each summer.

“We take seriously our responsibility to maintain Finsbury Park as one of the best green spaces in London and the benefits it brings to the local community. Events provide a vital boost for local businesses and bring in around £1.2m income each year – all of which is reinvested into the park.

“All of the public amenities and facilities in the park, including the children’s play areas and sports facilities, remain open throughout the Major Events schedule. Large swathes of park land and grass are also openly accessible and available during this time and continue to be enjoyed by the majority of park users.

“Extra measures will be in place for 2024. We have introduced air quality monitors in the park, which will provide us with a baseline of the air quality throughout the Major Events schedule and the entire year. The results of this monitoring will inform if any further action is needed.

“Krankbrother have engaged an independent ecologist to ensure best practice around nature conservation is being met by them. Council colleagues and tree officers will also be on-site to check that their obligations are being adhered to in the park.”

Krankbrother did not respond to request for comment.