Member Article

Leeds annual Party in the Park cancelled due to lack of Council funds

Leeds City Council and 96.3 Radio Aire have today confirmed they will not be co-organising the annual Party in the Park event at Temple Newsam Park in Leeds this year due to “budgetary pressures.”

The organisers have “reluctantly” concluded that the event is no longer feasible in its current format without introducing significantly increased ticket prices.

As Leeds City Council and Radio Aire “remain committed” to keeping ticket prices as affordable as possible for Leeds residents, the event will take a break in 2014.

Leeds City Council and Radio Aire “hope to continue their long-standing relationship through other event opportunities in the future. “

The council is also considering the implications and potential options around the annual Opera in the Park and Classical Fantasia events.

A further announcement regarding both concerts will be made once all options have been investigated by the council.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “It is with great regret that we are no longer able to work with Radio Aire to deliver Party in the Park in 2014 and we thank Radio Aire for all their hard work and support in helping us organise this event in previous years.

“We will be continuing to look at every option available to us both in the short-term and long-term around Opera in the Park and Classical Fantasia, and also as part of this work, be considering other events that could in the future be potentially held in our city.”

A spokesperson from Radio Aire commented: “All the station team at Radio Aire are hugely disappointed that Party in Park will not go ahead for 2014.

“It’s not a decision we have taken lightly, and after thorough discussion and debate with Leeds City Council, regretfully we have all concluded that this is the best option for this year.

“We realise that this will be unfortunate news for the thousands of Leeds residents that have enjoyed the event over the years, however we will be working hard to look at alternative options to bring engaging live events and music artists to the city moving forward.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .