Online Reporter
Zimfest organisers have apologised to residents after festivalgoers caused widespread disruption in Northampton, United Kingdom.
Around 11,000 people attended the Zimfest festival, which was held at Delapré Abbey in Northampton, England on Saturday from 1pm until 10.30pm – but issues persisted into the early hours of the morning.
Zimfest is an annual event to celebrate Zimbabwean culture in the UK and stands as one of the big entertainment events there.
Residents complained that surrounding streets in Far Cotton became gridlocked as motorists parked in residential roads instead of using designated cheaper parking in the town centre or the Cinch Stadium park-and-ride service which was advertised as being £15 per car but a photograph sent to the Chron from the site appeared to show a £30 price tag.
Residents also blamed the £30 parking charge at Delapré Abbey, saying it encouraged festivalgoers to park in surrounding residential streets.
Delapre and Rushmere ward councillor Julie Davenport said she had been "inundated" with complaints.
She said ‘‘The evidence I have seen includes antisocial behaviour, persistent horn sounding long after the event had finished, shouting and abuse, people urinating in residents gardens, one incident of defecation in a front garden, dangerous parking, and vehicles blocking or parking across residents driveways, including a family with a young boy on palliative car.
For many local people, it was an absolute nightmare.
My thoughts are with the residents who had to endure this and with the team at Delapré Abbey. They work incredibly hard to deliver events that our community enjoys and values, and I know they are devastated by what has happened.
Residents deserve to know what planning took place, what mitigation measures were put in place, and why they proved so ineffective. I want to be clear that this is not a criticism of Delapré Abbey or its dedicated team.
We all want the Abbey to continue hosting successful events that bring people together and benefit Northampton.
However, in my view, the organisation of Zimfest was an unmitigated failure from the perspective of local residents, and it is vital that lessons are learned to ensure this never happens again.
Responding, a Zimfest spokesman said: We acknowledge the concerns raised by local residents.
As with previous events, we developed and implemented a traffic management plan in partnership with the relevant authorities leading up to, and on the day of the event.
This included designated on-site parking, a park and ride service, stewarding and traffic management measures to help safely manage the movement of vehicles and visitors.
We also offered a range of parking options, including more affordable off-site parking. On-site parking was priced at £30 due to the high demand and limited capacity and was fully booked in advance.
While these measures were in place, we recognise that many experienced disruption which impacted their day and we sincerely apologise to the residents of Far Cotton and surrounding areas for the inconvenience. We are working with our partners to determine what can be improved.
We are aware of reports of anti-social behaviour associated with the event.
We do not condone any conduct that causes distress to local residents. It is unacceptable, does not reflect what the overwhelming majority of attendees stand for, and we are taking these reports very seriously.
We are currently conducting a full debrief with our partners and reviewing all the feedback we’ve received, including from local residents. Our focus at this stage is on completing that process and understanding where improvements can be made. The statement comes after Delapré Abbey also apologised this week, promising residents they would have a in a full review into what went wrong.
West Northamptonshire Council has also confirmed officers will meet with Delapré Abbey and partner organisations to review the event and consider measures to prevent similar disruption in future.
Northamptonshire Police said officers were called to one incident during the event at
about 7.30pm involving the alleged assault of a woman. The incident remains under
investigation –Northampton Chronicle.
