Wide Awake festival have announced a last-minute reduced ticket scheme ahead of the festival kicking off in Brockwell Park today (May 23).
The lead-up to this year’s edition of the festival has been bumpy, after local resident Rebekah Shaman, a member of the Protect Brockwell Park group, took legal action against Lambeth Council, arguing that organisers Brockwell Live (the organisers behind Wide Awake, Field Day, the Mighty Hoopla) did not have the correct planning permission for the events. Last week (May 16), a judge ruled in her favour.
The ruling caused concern for the plight of the many festivals that were due to be held on the site this summer, with the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) warning of the possibility of a “devastating blow” to London culture as a result.
However, organisers Brockwell Live confirmed on Monday (May 19) that “no event will be cancelled as a result of the High Court’s decision”.
Additionally, the festival comes amid a period of controversy for Kneecap, who are set to headline the festival today. On Wednesday (May 21) Mo Chara received a terror offence charge, which the band have slammed as a “carnival of distraction”.
Now, Wide Awake have introduced a last-minute reduced ticket scheme ahead of the festival to combat rising costs and secure its future.
In an open letter to ticket buyers (May 23), booker and co-founder Keith Miller wrote: “It’s been an incredibly tough month our end with the various issues melting our brains surrounding Brockwell Park, our events permit and all the Kneecap hyperbole.”
Miller continued: “The truth of the matter is not all publicity is good publicity, and we’ve had 2 stagnant weeks where our ticket sales flatlined when they normally fly due to all the uncertainty. They’re picking up some steam now, but it’s squeaky bum time, no getting away from it. As a wholly independent festival we can’t really take the risk 5 years in, that we don’t do everything we possibly can to hit our breakeven.”
He then revealed that costs have doubled within that five-year period, and they’ve also “had some pretty tasty legal costs to fork out for of late”, which has contributed to their financial situation.
To help ease rising costs, they’ve introduced a ‘Tell Your Friends’ ticket priced at £34, for ticketholders to share with people they know. “We understand some of you might feel short-changed by this offer. This isn’t an ideal situation and not something we would do lightly,” Miller added.
Wide Awake states that if one in four ticket holders successfully manages to persuade a friend to take up the offer, they’ll “be well on our way to where we need to be to stabilise the event so we can look at things in the summer and not have to be named after a bitcoin next year or just wrap the whole thing up.”
Kneecap live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
An email sent out to ticketholders also added: “We know Kneecap’s headline show is going to be one for the ages. We want and need to get as many heads down as possible, and make it their biggest ever headline show.”
It comes after Wide Awake announced the trio’s headline set would go ahead as planned, despite a wave of cancellations by other festivals following their Coachella 2025 performance.
Last night, Kneecap played a surprise, last-minute warm-up gig at the 350-capacity 100 Club on Oxford Street, after announcing the gig earlier in the day.
Other acts playing Wide Awake this weekend include CMAT, English Teacher, Daniel Avery, Mannequin Pussy, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Puzzle (making their UK festival debut) Sprints, Marie Davidson, Nadine Shah, Warmduscher, NME Cover stars Fcukers, COBRAH, Chanel Beads and Gurriers.
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