Wireless organisers meet with council after festival trouble

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Wireless FestivalImage source, PA

A London council is meeting with Wireless festival's organisers to review security after video footage showed people scaling the gates and fighting at the weekend.

Police have confirmed they made 24 arrests over the three-day event.

Haringey Council told Newsbeat the ugly scenes were "not representative of the whole festival".

They added that the event was well organised and saw "tens of thousands of people enjoy themselves safely".

Wireless organisers conceded that there were a number of incidents but said they were "dealt with quickly... on an otherwise hugely successful Wireless weekend".

Organisers also told Newsbeat they take security very seriously and "work closely with ShowSec, local police and other agencies... to ensure the event maintains an enjoyable and secure environment for all its customers".

Image source, YOUTUBE
Image caption,

A fight nearly breaks out by the stage at Wireless Festival

One of the videos show what looks to be a random attendee unlatching the gate, external to allow herds of people into the festival. , external

"This was an isolated incident that was dealt with quickly where no-one was hurt."

There are also reports that fans were unhappy about Nicki Minaj turning up hours late for her headline set. , external

Newsbeat found a small number of tweets complaining about Nicki being late for her set at Wireless., external

But fans were also happy with Nicki's performance, external when she did Hey Mama, externalwith David Guetta, who closed the night., external

Nicki performed at a festival in Denmark the night before.

The Highways Agency reported a car fire which led to congestion between junctions nine and eight in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, which is close to the Luton Airport.

According to the festival's website Nicki was due on stage between 7pm and 8pm ahead of headliner David Guetta at 8.40pm but fans say she didn't show up until well after 9pm.

Event organisers had this to say about Nicki's fashionably late performance: "Due to last minute travel issues Nicki Minaj was unable to perform at her scheduled time of 7pm.

"However Nicki did join David Guetta on stage for one song and went on to perform a blistering set that wowed the sold out 45,000 crowd and brought to an end a phenomenal weekend for the New Look Wireless festival and the 135,000 fans that attended in London's Finsbury Park."

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