‘Desperate’ UK councils hiring out more parks to festivals, warns expert

Surge in festivals after Covid lull risks making green spaces elitist as councils try to offset tightened budgets

Cash-strapped councils are increasingly hiring out their green spaces to festivals, an expert has warned, blocking them off from residents for weeks at a time, damaging grass and causing congestion.

Councils were more desperate than ever" to attract commercial income to supplement their reduced budgets after a pandemic hiatus, risking making public parks more exclusive and more elitist" in the process.