UK Tramlines Festival Moves Out Of The City

Tramlines Festival in Sheffield, England, says it outgrew the city center and is going to move the main party to Hillsborough Park, where the capacity is 40,000.  

Tramlines Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary next year, July 21-23. The first line-up announcements will be made in early 2018, said festival director Sarah Nulty, adding: “I’m delighted that our license for Hillsborough Park has been approved. We can now put our plans into practice as we celebrate the 10th anniversary with the biggest and best Tramlines to date.”

– Tramlines Festival 2017
IN Sheffield, UK

The 2017 lineup featured The Libertines, All Saints, Toots & The Maytals and others July 21-23. 

Organizers have assured fans that the festival would remain its city festival character, despite the main stage no longer occupying the Ponderosa. Many city center events will remain free of charge.

“We are working closely with Sheffield city council on the city centre proposition to ensure that it remains a core part of the weekend and more information on those plans will be released in the new year,” said Nulty.

Tramlines, which launched as a free event in 2009 started charging an entrance fee since 2013, when event production company Count of Ten bought 38 percent from Tramlines Event Ltd.

The ticket price kept increasing each year, and in 2015, the festival turned its first major profit. Tramlines plays an important role in Sheffield’s economy, bringing customers to pubs and venues that complement the official program with their own events.

Last year, Sheffield’s Music City Foundation, which owns 15 per cent of the festival, launched a crowdfunding campaign to buy the entire event, planning to raise money from venues, musicians, corporate and regular citizens in return for shares in the event.

The aim was to raise £1.2m ($1.6m) to “buy back the festival for the people,” the foundation’s director Winston Hazel stated back in April. Accordig to The Star, the crowdfunding bid “did not receive shareholder approval and the group withdrew.”