Features
‘The Next Stage Of AEG’s Festival Journey’: LIDO London Launches
LIDO Festival is the newest addition to London’s summer calendar, set to arrive in Victoria Park in June 2025, named after the park’s historic Lido Field.
LIDO will run across two weekends, and feature “carefully curated music line-ups alongside community-driven activities during the week, all with a strong emphasis on sustainability,” according to a press release announcing the festival.
Like AEG Presents other festival in London’s Tower Hamlets district, All Points East, which takes place in a different part of Victoria Park, the promoters predict that “LIDO will bring substantial benefits to the local area, including improvements to the park itself.”
All Points East contributes over £45 million ($58 million) to the local economy each year, by AEG Presents own admission. LIDO will similarly engage local suppliers, employ local staff, and boost local spending on accommodation, food, and entertainment. The festival’s midweek program will provide free quality arts, culture and wellbeing activities, offering a platform for local talent to shine thereby enriching the area’s cultural landscape.
The full line-up will be announced soon. “LIDO will showcase the most current headliners and work closely with them to curate the line ups, reflecting their own musical passions, with a strong focus on emerging artists,” the press release announcing the launch of LIDO states.
Part of LIDO’s committed to making a positive impact on the local community is an ongoing partnership with East London Arts and Music (ELAM), which provides students with hands-on experience in the creative industry including the chance to perform, as well as vocational opportunities in festival production, technology, and the wider music industry.
As part of AEG Presents sustainability commitment, “LIDO will implement and then continually develop sustainable policies and processes ranging from how we power the festival and manage waste disposal through to partnering with local food vendors to ensure maximum efficiency, simplify, strengthen, and minimise the impact in our supply chains and our community. LIDO will hold themselves to account and maximise every sustainable opportunity available to the event.”
Jim King, CEO of European Festivals at AEG Presents, commented, “LIDO Festival represents the next stage of AEG’s festival journey. Taking place at Victoria Park, one of our favourite locations in the heart of London’s creative districts, Lido Festival allows us to push our ambitions further in working with young people within the industry and those who aspire to be. Most excitingly, this centres about a new generation of artists, whether they’re headlining or performing for the first time.
“The vision of supporting the artists’ journey further develops as we program each day directly with the headliner. This delivers a show that fans know has the artists’ musical soul embedded throughout. This is one of the most exciting aspects of Lido Festival, knowing that everyone on the bill means something to the headliner closing out the show.”
Cllr Kamrul Hussain, Cabinet Member for Culture and Recreation says, “This new festival, coming to our multi award-winning Victoria Park, has the potential to provide more opportunities for residents to benefit from cultural events; increase expenditure in and boost our local economy through visits to the borough; and generate more income to support council services including the upkeep of our parks and open spaces. We look forward to working with AEG, to ensure that community benefits are at the heart of the new LIDO Festival.”