Tramlines Festival to pay annual fee for Hillsborough Park improvements

Tramlines draws up to 40,000 people each year

The organisers of Tramlines Festival will pay an annual £10,000 fee towards improvements in Hillsborough Park for the next five years.

It comes after a new agreement was reached with Sheffield City Council to pay more for use of the park after torrential rain damaged large parts of the site at last year's festival.

The festival has taken place in Hillsborough Park since 2018.

It will remain at the council-managed park for at least another five years.

Protecting the city's parks was "crucial", according to Councillor Ian Auckland.

'Enormous benefits to the city'

"Tramlines Festival brings enormous benefits to the city and is enjoyed and celebrated by many," he said.

"However, it is crucial that we protect our parks and it's great to see that we have revised our licence agreement to reflect this. We want Hillsborough Park to be enjoyed by everyone for many years to come."

The money will be used to "improve, replace, or install equipment or facilities to advance the park", a council spokesperson said.

Approval to enter into a revised licence agreement was given at a meeting on Monday.

"At the committee meeting, it was stressed that this money should be used to make improvements and not for routine maintenance, so park users are able to see the benefits of holding the festival in Hillsborough," the spokesperson added.

The award-winning event draws up to 40,000 people each year.

But months of repair work was needed after 7in (18cm) of rain deluged the final day last year during the city's wettest July on record.

Torrential rain damaged large parts of the park last year

Established in 2009, the festival was previously held across multiple venues in the city centre.

The council spokesperson said Hillsborough Park "has been cited as the only city park with the capacity to host an event of this size and nature".

It would move out of the city if not held there, they said.

This year's event will be headlined by Paolo Nutini, Jamie T and Snow Patrol.