Frustration has been voiced over rubbish that remains on Nottingham's Wollaton Park three days after Splendour Festival came to an end. The Festival was held at Wollaton Park on Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24.
The festival, which is one of the biggest events in Nottingham, drew crowds of 20,000 people each day. Photographs taken on Wednesday, July 27 show that as the main stage is being cleared away, there is some rubbish remaining at the site.
The park is home to several different species of wildlife including wild deer who roam the grounds. It is also a popular dog walking spot and family picnic location which led to concern that children or animals may get hurt.
Local resident Chloe Thompson was out walking her dog when she came across the rubbish. "You expect a bit of rubbish after something like that but it's been three days since it finished especially given there are animals in there. I had my dog on the lead so luckily she didn't go near it," she said.
"It's in the area where the stage was which is around the back of the hall by the lake. When I arrived there was no one there but at 8 am workers turned up to start clearing away the stage but there was no one there to clear up the rubbish."
"It shouldn't have happened as it's now three days on from the festival. I would like to see them prioritise the safety of the animals and people who are walking in the park. I was able to walk through the rubbish and dogs could run through as well as the animals that are there overnight."
The two-day festival was organised by DHP Family and also Nottingham City Council. The event has had a two-year break due to Covid restrictions and this is the first year it has been back on at Wollaton Park.
In previous years, the council has highlighted the mess left behind by the festival and the quick turnaround on cleaning after such a large-scale event. However, three days have passed since the end of the festival and the rubbish still remains on site.
Organisers at DHP Family have taken steps this year to ensure that the festival is becoming more sustainable and prevent high levels of waste. They outlined that cleaning contractors, Nottingham City Waste Services, were able to react promptly and that the festival is a glass-free site.
"Cleanliness and the environment are very important to us and we are always striving to make improvements to make Splendour festival as sustainable as possible. This year our bars served drinks in reusable cups for the first time. This allowed us to prevent more than 60,000 single-use plastic glasses from going to landfill," a spokesperson at DHP Family said.
"It also meant that our cleaning contractor, Nottingham City Waste Services, was able to completely clean the Confetti stage area 10 minutes after the final act on Saturday evening with the full site spotless by 8 am the next morning."
"The festival is a glass-free site and we confiscate all glass that we find on entry. The glass shown in the photo is from a mirror that was accidentally broken whilst the dressing room cabins were being packed away. It is within the backstage compound which is fenced off to keep people and animals away," they said.
"It can only be cleaned up by sending in a sweeper which cannot be sent in until the stage has been fully dismantled, which is due to be completed by the end of today. Areas are cleaned as the large structures are removed (stages, marquees, cabins, refrigerated trucks) and the whole arena is scheduled to be clear by the end of Friday."
The team at DHP thanked those who attended the festival and helped to support their efforts to be more environmentally conscious.
"We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along this weekend for supporting our efforts to become a more environmentally sustainable festival. Working together, we can be green."
A City Council spokesperson said: “Our Street Scene crews did an incredible job of keeping Wollaton Park tidy while Splendour Festival was underway, and clearing up the large amount of waste generated by around 40,000 people across the weekend. We have received really positive feedback from people who attended the festival about our team’s proactive approach to clearing the site between acts and after the event.
“We are aware of this relatively small amount of waste which was under the stages which were still being dismantled late yesterday afternoon. We have a team on-site and this will be cleared today, ” they added.
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