Leyland’s Music In The Park future plans unveiled

Acts who made it big in the noughties could be added to the line-up of Leyland’s annual Music In The Park festival.

The retro-themed concert – first staged in 2022 – largely focuses on artists whose heyday came in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

However, South Ribble Borough Council, which finances the Worden Park event, is considering broadening its appeal next year in order to attract a wider audience.

Stars who have previously performed include Bananarama, Go West, Jason Donovan, Peter Andre and M-People’s Heather Small.

The move towards a more wide-ranging slate of acts – revealed at a meeting of the authority’s cabinet – is part of an attempt to reduce the bill for delivering the show by increasing income and cutting costs.

The council had to stump up £102,000 to stage this year’s gig back in May – down from £170,000 in 2023.  The aim is for the event to break even within five years of launching.

Other changes that could be on the cards include hosting fewer headline acts and inviting local bands and DJs to share the stage.

The duration of the concert could also be cut back, with a “pre-event” held in Leyland town centre – potentially featuring discounted offers for people attending Music in the Park – in order to boost the benefits felt by local businesses.

A survey sampling the opinions and experience of 385 ticket-holders this year found that the majority – 217 – spent less than £10 in the town centre, whereas in the park itself, 224 people shelled out more than £50.

A report presented to cabinet revealed that more than 4,000 people attended the gig, up from 2,500 for the inaugural event in 2022.

The document also showed that while expenditure this year was broadly similar to last – at £280,000 – income increased from £102,000 to almost £178,000, hence the overall reduction in cost.  The bill was covered using Covid recovery funding, having last year been paid for by a reserve created for community events.

The council has already earmarked £150,000 for the staging of Music In The Park in each of 2025 and 2026, but the ongoing cost of the event last year came in for criticism from opposition parties in the borough.

Labour cabinet member for culture, community wealth building and licensing, Matthew Farnworh, acknowledged that staging the show was “costly”.

However, he added:  “I think we can all agree that continuing Music in the Park will be a success for this borough. It provides a feel-good factor and an opportunity to see some headline acts coming to…South Ribble.

“Next year, we’re looking to change the format slightly.  We’ll be looking to increase the scope of the festival to include acts for a wider audience, such as…from the noughties, alongside those from the ‘80s and ‘90s,” said Cllr Farnworth.

Deputy council leader Aniela Bylinski Gelder said all of the proposed tweaks retained enough of the format that “people are used to and…enjoy” for it to continue to be a success.

LOOKING TO THE LONG TERM

Cabinet members were told that three options were being considered for the future delivery of Music In The Park from 2026 onwards.

These include a continuation of the current arrangement, whereby the provision of the acts, infrastructure and bar services is outsourced to a third party. That allows the council to retain control over the management of the event, but a cabinet report noted that the set-up meant the authority also bears all of the financial risk.

The possibility exists of handing the event over to a third party in its entirety or, alternatively, partnering with another organisation in an arrangement which enables the council to retain a share of any income ultimately generated.

The latter model – used by Fylde Council to deliver the hugely popular Lytham Festival – is only an option if a partner would view Music in the Park as “an attractive commercial venture”.  The report said “early indications suggest this option may be difficult to achieve”, but would continue to be pursued.

The cancellation of the event altogether would enable “a significant budget saving and the opportunity to introduce new events to the South Ribble calendar”.

However, feedback from gig-goers this year was “overwhelmingly in favour of continuing the event” and could be considered a waste of the investment already made to grow its popularity, councillors were told.

Meanwhile, cabinet members agreed to waive the usual procurement rules in order to award the contract for providing the acts, infrastructure and bar services in 2025 to Preston-based UK Media and Events, which has delivered all three Music In The Park events to date.

Cllr Farnworth said the suspension of competition for awarding the contract was a result of delays caused by the “pre-election period” ahead of July’s general election.   A waiver was also used last year in order to appoint the firm on the basis that it was a “trusted partner” who had made the first two events a success.

However, the meeting heard that the plan was to hold a full procurement process for the 2026 concert.