Wireless Festival moves to Olympic Park as Does Hard Rock Calling

It was announec today that the Wireless Festival and Hard Rock Calling Festivals are both moving from Hyde Park to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Music Promoters Live Nation who operate both festivals contract with the Royal Parks Hyde Park expired last year. Live Nation decided to not to enter the tender process to continue promoting events at the famous London Park and have instead entered into an agreement with the London Legacy Development Corporation to stage events at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park the site of the victorious London Olympics last summer.

As well as the Hard Rock Calling and Wireless Festival it is also expected that their will be summer concerts in the Olympic stadium with the rumour being that the Rolling Stones will perform in the stadium. The exclusive live events contract is just for this year, with the park set to fully open in the Spring of 2014. However if the concerts and festivals are a success it is expected that a longer term deal will be agreed between Live Nation and London Legacy Development Corporation.

The move away from Hyde Park was not a surprise after Live Nation walked away from the tender process for the new Hyde Park Contract. Live Nation clashed over issue like Noise restrictions and curfews. A few years ago Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney were cut off in the prime as they had breached the curfew set by the local council. Live Nation hosted events at Hyde Park for more than 10 years but Live Nation felt they needed to walk away from the tender process and now the deal has been done at the Olympic park. The Olympic park is felt to have much better transport links, which was clearly evident during the olympics when 300,000 people were transported to and from the Olympic park and surrounding venues using public transport with no issues.

The Wireless Festival and Hard Rock Calling are both set for July 2013. The Wireless Festival was headlined by the likes of Rihanna and Drake last year. The Hard Rock Calling Festival has had some of the greatest rock acts headline including Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and Bon Jovi.

The events in the Olympic Park will take place in the North Park, on the site once occupied by the Olympic hockey arena.
As well as the Hard Rock Calling and Wireless Festival at least 2 concerts at the Olympic Stadium are planned with Rolling Stones Beyonce, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Aerosmith rumoured to play some stadium shows. over 350,000 tickets are set to be sold for all the events.

The Live Nation hosted events will also include over events at the park like RideLondon festival of cycling and a festival of music sport and culture for local residents in association with The Barbican and CREATE.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and Chairman of the London Legacy Development Corporation talked of the news today saying

“Our vision for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has always been as a destination for world class sport as well as for major cultural and leisure events and last summer the world saw what an amazing venue we have created with our iconic stadium, sports facilities and new parklands.
“The confidence now shown by one of the world’s leading live entertainment promoters to relocate two of its biggest music festivals from the centre of the capital is a ringing endorsement of our legacy plans. Along with the other major international sports events we have already secured this latest news proves that the park has a very bright future indeed.”

Live Nation spoken of the new deail with John Reid, President of Concerts at Live Nation Europe, quoted as saying

>“As the world’s leading provider of music festivals and outdoor events, Live Nation is delighted to have won the inaugural contract for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. “In the coming weeks, we will unveil the headline acts for the first Wireless and Hard Rock festivals to be staged in London’s new flagship venue, which promise to be the UK’s blockbuster events of 2013.”

Dennis Hone, Chief Executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation was gushing about the huge deal with live nation he said

“This summer Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will once again host some of the greatest shows on earth. I’m delighted that leading global companies like Live Nation are interested in the stadium and the Park. We’re thrilled to be working with them this summer.
“This deal marks an important stepping stone towards securing a long-term programme of fantastic events that will make Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park a leading destination both for Londoners and those from further afield.”