Tramlines festival to pay more to stay at park

The agreement secured a home for the Tramlines festival for five more years, a council report said

Sheffield's Tramlines music festival has struck a deal to stay at its current home for another five years.

The award-winning event has brought stars such as Lewis Capaldi, Noel Gallagher and Sam Fender to Hillsborough Park.

However, organisers will face an increased bill for use of the green space, Sheffield City Council papers show.

The agreement between the council and organisers was reviewed after torrential rain damaged the park at last year's festival.

Months of repair work was needed after 7in (18cm) of rain deluged the event's final day, attended by 40,000 people, during the city's wettest July on record.

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".

Hillsborough Park needed months of repair work after torrential rain at last year's festival

Tramlines Events Limited (TEL), which runs the festival, has agreed to pay Sheffield City Council an increased fee to stage the next five events at the council-managed park, a committee meeting will hear next week.

However, the exact amount was not being made public as it was deemed commercially sensitive information, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The last published fee paid by TEL for hire of Hillsborough Park was £33,500 in 2021.

A report going before the council's Charity Trustee Sub-Committee next week said TEL had asked for a portion of its fee to be earmarked for the Hillsborough Park Charity, which funds the upkeep of the green space.

It said: "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."

This included "ensuring there is clear agreement on how the park will be protected", it said.

Tramlines will also donate £500 to help volunteers continue “their valuable work in the park”.

The report said that since 2018, Tramlines has raised more than £210,000 for local Sheffield charities, donated more than 500 free tickets to key workers, charities and carers, hosted 68 work placements for local university students and offered 226 paid local emerging artists slots.

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