Latest news with #Rylance
Time Out
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Campaigners have launched a legal challenge against music festivals in Brockwell Park
To many Londoners, festival season is one of the best parts of the year, and one of the greatest things about living in the capital. For a few months of the year we get to experience world-class music, culture and have a right jolly in many of our wonderful local parks. But to some Londoners day festivals are a noisy nuisance, damaging parks with large crowds and lots of litter. Now some unhappy locals in south London have launched a legal campaign against Lambeth Council, urging them to review holding large-scale festival events in Brockwell Park. Every summer Brockwell Live stages a number of day parties in the park, including Wide Awake, City Splash and new for 2025 Field Day (which has moved from its former home in Victoria Park). It also hosts free events including Lambeth Country Show and kid-friendly Brockwell Bounce. But campaign group Protect Brockwell Park (PBP), including actor Mark Rylance, said that the festivals are 'destroying' the park and having an 'adverse ecological impact'. Rylance complained that large metal walls that are erected around the park for the events are ruining the vibe of the outdoor space, transforming it into a 'prison camp'. The campaign has raised more than £30,000 via Crowdjustice to fund legal proceedings against Lambeth Council. In a case that could change the face of London day festivals, PBP wants the council to have to acquire full planning permission to run events in the park. A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: 'Brockwell Park is hugely valued by the council and our communities. The council invests £500,000 a year in maintaining Brockwell Park which has won numerous awards including a Green Flag given by Keep Britain Tidy in line with the international standard for high quality parks and green spaces, as well as several London in Bloom awards. 'Events in Brockwell Park run for a short period before summer and generate significant cultural opportunities and entertainment for younger people across the borough. Events also support businesses in the area, the majority of which are small businesses who experience increases in footfall during the events programme. 'This boosts our local economy and provides jobs and income for residents, especially at a time when high streets and small traders have struggled, and when pubs are closing in record numbers. 'The area of the park used for events has been independently assessed as being of low ecological sensitivity grassland, and there is no ecological damage caused as a result. Income from events is helping us put money into diversity projects in other areas of the park, with at least £20,000 invested in this way last year.' The council added that commercial events help fund the free-to-attend Lambeth Country Show, saving the cash-strapped authority £700,000 in 2024, while festivals like Mighty Hoopla and City Splash are valued by local LGBTQ+ and Black communities. 'Any impacts from the events on the park are fixed with our event partner. We are committed to addressing all potential issues promptly and effectively, whilst ensuring Lambeth's residents continue to have access to a diverse and meaningful range of events,' the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Brockwell Live said: 'Brockwell Live delivers a series of free and ticketed events in Brockwell Park with more than half of attendees coming from across Greater London. 'Celebrating the city's diverse music and culture, events include the capital's largest Caribbean and African music festival, a nationally significant queer pop festival and a critically acclaimed celebration of jazz, funk and soul. 'Although 2024 saw weather-related challenges, expert assessments confirm that grass and soil impacts are reversible and remedial work is ongoing. 'We understand the importance of Brockwell Park to local residents and take our stewardship seriously. We welcome scrutiny and maintain open channels for dialogue with residents, councillors, and community groups at all times.'
BreakingNews.ie
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Mark Rylance condemns music festivals for turning London park into ‘prison camp'
Sir Mark Rylance has said annual music festivals held in a London park turn the site into a 'prison camp'. Brockwell Park in Lambeth holds a series of events called Brockwell Live over the summer months. Advertisement Wolf Hall actor Rylance has backed a petition to stop events this year due to feature the likes of pop star Kesha and Eurovision winner Loreen. We've previously said that commercial gated festivals are turning Brockwell Park into a gulag. It seems that Britain's leading actor agrees. — Brockwell Park Association (@EventBrockwell) April 23, 2025 The Oscar-winning star, who lives nearby, claimed the events are 'destroying' the south London park and its wildlife. Established in 2018, the events, including pop festival Mighty Hoopla, draw more than 300,000 people to the 125-acre park over 16 days. Kesha and Loreen will be performing on June 1st and other stars including former Little Mix singer Jade Thirlwall will appear on May 31st. Advertisement Campaigners claim the festival is causing environmental harm to the park with the installation of steel fencing affecting its grass and trees. The Protect Brockwell Park group has raised more than £31,000 and sent a legal letter challenging Lambeth Council's decision to allow the festivals without planning permission. According to The Times, Rylance said: 'Brockwell Park is a place for people and nature. It is essential to many people's mental health, to our joy, our healing grief. It was a gift to the local community and is held in trust for us by Lambeth. 'The imposition of high steel walls for Brockwell Live every summer destroys the park for weeks and harms the grass, trees and plant life for months – if not for ever. It turns it into a prison camp. Advertisement 'I fully support this campaign to legally challenge our Lambeth governors and make a new arrangement for our park. Enough is enough. Stop the walls.' A well-known advocate for environmental issues, the actor has previously called for a reduction in fossil fuels and backed calls for cases against environmental protesters to be dropped. Rylance is also a patron of environmental charity Planet Purbeck. Protect Brockwell Park, represented by environmental law specialists Goodenough Ring, has sent a pre-action letter to Lambeth Council which could lead to a judicial review of its decision to grant a certificate of lawful development for the events, the authority confirmed. People arrive at the Lambeth Country Show, part of Brockwell Live (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Campaigners are calling for greater public consultation, a temporary halt to festivals to allow the land to recover, and compensation from event organisers to address environmental damage. Advertisement The council charges festivals owner Superstruct for use of the park but confirmed it does not make profit from the events. Protect Brockwell Park said: 'Our beautiful Brockwell Park is a haven for nature and of immense value to the people of Lambeth and Southwark, but it's under threat from private, large-scale events. 'We are local people fighting a million-pound company whose unsustainable business practices are damaging our trees, disturbing wildlife, compacting the soil and fencing off huge areas of the park for weeks at a time.' Lambeth Council said it invests £500,000 a year in maintaining Brockwell Park. Advertisement The park, featuring Grade II-listed Brockwell Hall, is made up of 50.8 hectares of green space and hosts a lido, walled garden and clock tower. It was bought by Lambeth Council in 1986. A council spokesperson said: 'The area of the park used for events has been independently assessed as being of low ecological sensitivity grassland, and there is no ecological damage caused as a result. 'Income from events is helping us put money into diversity projects in other areas of the park, with at least £20,000 invested in this way last year. 'We appreciate there can be impacts on people in the surrounding neighbourhood. Alongside organisers we are working hard to minimise disruption, having a 24-hour helpline and staff in the streets throughout the course of events. 'We have also moved the date of events in Brockwell Park to earlier in the year so the entire park is available throughout the school summer holidays. 'The council has received a pre-action protocol letter in relation to a judicial review claim for Brockwell Park, and are currently considering this.'
BBC News
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Lottery Winners: How Robbie Williams became a 'therapist' for indie band
Thom Rylance, frontman of indie band The Lottery Winners, has experienced panic attacks since he was a child. But he'd never had one on stage... until last month."I've got this other, outgoing version of me that does the shows, and he just turns up every time," the singer explains."I don't really know him, and I think he's brilliant and quite handsome, but when we played Bournemouth, he just didn't come."The panic manifested as "a tremendous sense of overwhelming dread", he says, accompanied by sudden shortness of breath and a racing isn't sure how, but he survived the gig without anyone noticing. YouTube footage shows him goading people into singing Reef's Put Your Hands Up, and taking selfies with fans during the his head, though, it was a disaster."I came off stage and I was really apologetic. I was like, 'Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I was awful. I couldn't speak'."And everyone was like, 'What you talking about? It was absolutely fine.'"The reaction wasn't entirely unexpected. At the age of 35, Rylance has become adept at masking his a topic he addresses frequently (and movingly) on the band's new album, KOKO, whose title is an acronym for "Keep on keeping on".The singer learned the phrase from his grandmother, who used it to comfort him when he was excluded from school."I didn't want to be bad or naughty, but there was something in me [that meant] I couldn't sit through the lessons," he recalls."I was expelled and taken away from all my friends, and it made me really sad – but my gran used to say, 'Keep on keeping on, Thom', and it stuck with me." 'Where was my support?' The singer was belatedly diagnosed with ADHD two years ago, and the sense of relief hit him like a tidal wave."It was like a release of guilt," he says. "Like, nothing I've ever done has ever been my fault!"But it also came with a mourning period, where I was looking back and going, 'Where was my support? I didn't have to be a sad child'."I literally remember a teacher saying, 'If you don't do well in your GCSEs then your life is over.' That sent me spiralling because I was like, 'I don't want to be a junkie', you know?"So, I've been going into schools recently and talking to kids with ADHD, just to show them that someone who did terribly in education can wake up every day excited and happy and ready for work." Rylance is speaking from Paris, where The Lottery Winners are wrapping up their latest band, completed by Robert Lally, Katie Lloyd and Joe Singleton, have been working tirelessly since they formed in Leigh, Greater Manchester, in 2008 – but success has been a slow signed their first record contract with Sire Records in 2016 after boss Seymour Stein (the man responsible for discovering Madonna) called them "the best band since The Smiths".But when he left the label the following year, the group went with him, delaying their debut album by finally arrived on British indie label Morning Sky in 2020, a week before the country went into lockdown, making promotion impossible. Even so, the band's buoyant indie pop songs and engaging online presence (Rylance is one of the funniest and likeable musicians on social media) helped them build a dedicated 2023, that support was support enough to send their third album, Anxiety Replacement Therapy, to number one, beating releases by The National and Jessie Rylance, who spent his childhood "feeling like an alien", it was a huge deal."It's literally a trophy with a number one on it," he laughs. "What bigger symbol of affirmation is there than that?"How about being personally invited on tour by Robbie Williams? That's what happened last October. Robbie heard the band's single You Again on BBC Radio 2 and instantly booked them as his support act this summer."It was a really huge moment for me," says Rylance, who made his first public performance singing Williams' song Stronger on a school trip."Robbie's been a huge part of my life, so when he told me, 'I've listened to all of your albums', I was just like, 'What do you mean, Robbie Williams? Why are you saying that to me?'"The pair subsequently struck up a firm friendship, and talk almost daily."Robbie's like my therapist," says Rylance. "He's got ADHD as well, so he can relate to the things that overwhelm me."And I can literally ask him anything. I'll be like, 'Robert, how long do I put this pizza in the oven?'"But Williams isn't the only famous name in his contacts. The Lottery Winners have recorded singles with Shaun Ryder, Nickelback and Boy George ("a mild hit in Greece," laughs Rylance), while Noel Gallagher struck up a friendship with Rylance after playing with him last year."These people have always seemed so unreachable," he marvels. "Noel Gallagher is not even... He's barely even a human being!"So to have him right there in my phone... I've texted him for advice loads of times." That guiding hand proved crucial last November, when Rylance published an ill-advised tweet criticising musician Kate Nash's campaign to save the live music accused Nash of posing as a working class musician, pointing out she'd attended the Brit School - which he mistakenly thought was a private, fee-paying establishment."I wasn't very proud of that, and it ended up in the NME," says Rylance. "They kept contacting me, asking me for a statement, and so I texted Noel, 'What should I do about this, mate?'"He was like, 'Just tell them to speak to your new PR officer: Me."'I'll tell them you're too busy being mega to talk to the press.'"In the end, Rylance took a different approach, apologising for his comments and offering to work with Nash, external, but Gallagher's support helped him keep a level head in a tricky moment. Today, he's still passionate about highlighting the issues around working class access to the recalls The Lottery Winners' first gig, at the Collier's Rest Pub in Leigh, 16 years ago. The venue was so packed that it ran out of beer, but the band were only paid £30, which they immediately spent on a demo tape."I don't know how we did it," Rylance says. "We were really, really poor for a long time."We kept going because we believed in it, but that's not a realistic prospect for a lot of people."If you don't have any money, you can't afford to make mistakes."Even now, the band need help funding their European tour. Last month, they accepted a grant from the UK's Music Export Growth Fund to help pay for visas and transport costs."I wouldn't be in Paris right now without that," Rylance admits. "They match what we spend, and we're willing to invest as much as we can."That's where ADHD can come in handy. Rylance is relentlessly creative, always on the look-out for ways to promote the band. On the album, he even calls ADHD a "neurospice" that helps him "see solutions before problems even arise".To that end, he's got a plan to secure a second number one album this week. Since Friday, Lottery Winners have been hosting a pop-up shop in Leigh, with free live music every day and copies of KOKO for sale. "I can promise you this, there isn't a single band who'll work harder than us," he paraphrase his gran, they're keen on keeping on.
