Latest / Event Industry News Podcast / Finsbury Park Goes Live: Festival Republic Brings Mains Power to UK Festivals

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Finsbury Park Goes Live: Festival Republic Brings Mains Power to UK Festivals · Event Industry News Podcast

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  Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Event Industry News podcast with me, James Dixon,
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  wishing you all a very good morning, afternoon or evening, whenever or wherever you tune into today's podcast from.
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  Now, back in March, Festival Republic broke ground on a project that will see mains power installed in London's Finsbury Park.
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  The project, the first of its kind in the UK, is part of a wider initiative by the organiser to reduce its reliance on temporary generators
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  and encourage the use of renewable energy sources within the outdoor music industry.
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  To tell us more about the project, we're delighted to welcome to the podcast the MD of Festival Republic, Melvin Ben.
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  Melvin, a very warm welcome to the podcast and good morning to you.
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  James, thank you. Good morning to you or indeed good evening, good afternoon, whichever it happens to be, really.
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  Absolutely. I was on the podcast bright and early this morning at eight a.m.
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  on a Monday because my first guest was joining me from Australia.
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  The last guest of the recording schedule today will be at four p.m.
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  for me because it will be first thing in the morning for them in New York.
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  So it's a real sort of international flavour to the podcast recordings today.
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  But I guess you're joining us from your base in the UK, are you?
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  Yeah, I'm in London in the office in London.
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  Yeah, very much. Farringdon is the base now.
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  So, yeah, very happy with that. Fabulous.
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  And as I said in the introduction that this was widely reported across the sort of the event industry news media channels,
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  that you'd broken ground on this really sort of historic and upon the ground breaking project in Finsbury Park.
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  The mains power connection is going to be the first of its kind.
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  I'd love to sort of know, maybe from a timeline point of view, when did discussions start about it?
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  And how long did it actually take to get to that point in March when you broke ground?
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  In truth, it's taken about four years, James, a little longer than it should have done, perhaps.
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  And some of that is, you know, slowness of, you know, sort of bureaucracy and things like that.
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  But some of it was my own team being diverted and, you know, sort of having more important things and more urgent things to deal with and things like that.
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  And so it's taken longer than it should have.
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  I think realistically, it could probably be done comfortably in a couple of years.
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  But again, it's that thing of it's the first one in the UK that we've done.
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  It's taken a little longer than it should.
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  Everyone from here will be a little quicker and a little smoother because we have learned from the installation of the first one.
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  Absolutely. And let's not sort of underestimate the significance of both the impact on the wider industry,
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  but also just the sheer undertaking that it must be to even entertain a project like this and the stakeholders involved.
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  I mean, this is, as reported, a collaboration with Haringey Council, I believe.
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  And there must be other stakeholders involved in those discussions to get it to the point in March as well.
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  Well, obviously, you know, Haringey Council, you know, crucial to it because they own the park.
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  And, you know, you have to have permission to put something into the park there.
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  We, you know, the the actual substation receipt receiver of the power as such will be dug underground.
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  So it won't be visible. It won't be something that's noticeable to the park users.
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  And that was key. And, you know, they don't lose any sort of running around space for the kids, etc.
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  And so Haringey Council is crucial to it, of course.
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  And then, you know, the National Grid and National Power, very much so, actually.
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  And there's then the whole thing of getting permission to dig up roads and to bury cables, etc., etc.
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  But, you know, we're in a decent place with that. We're in a very decent place with that.
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  And, yeah, we're in a good place.
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  But the key really is that, you know, it's that initial commitment.
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  And I think I've been using Finsbury Park since 1990, James.
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  Arguably, it's taken me too long to do it, but I guess it's never too late, really, in that sense of it.
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  So it's the first for me in the UK. It's not the first for me across the portfolio.
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  I put mains power into electric picnic in Stradbelly in Ireland already, and I had a lot of learning from that.
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  And this is the first in the UK. Other locations we will certainly be doing.
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  There's no question about that at all. You know, Reading is next on the list.
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  So, yeah.
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  We'll touch on Reading, if we may, in a little bit as to why that is particularly next on the list.
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  But coming back to Finsbury Park, in your discussions and the planning process with National Grid and the other stakeholders,
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  how different was this project for an organisation like National Grid compared to, dare I say it, sort of normal extensions to mains power?
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  Because there's a certain level of redundancy that you have to have built in for event use.
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  You know, you can't run the risk of things going off and there will be redundancy built into the traditional temporary power generator set up that you will have used at outdoor events there.
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  Did your discussions lead to an understanding that this would be quite a significantly different undertaking to mains power extensions that National Grid have previously undertaken?
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  Yes, I mean, there's no question about that, really, James. I mean, no question about it, because not least,
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  you know, the National Grid and National Power are just unused to having supplies that may only be used for 14 to 18 days a year.
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  And of course, you know, they're dealing with people that are having new supplies put in all of the time.
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  And the cost of those supplies are then amortised over 365 days a year every day that they need electricity.
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  For me, I need electricity in that park, in those locations, actually only for, you know, in fact, less than 20 days a year, I think is the period that we're in from start to finish.
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  And the cost of installing, you know, if I was building a school, if I was building a play centre, if I was building a cafe in Thingsby Park, that cabling would be used every day.
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  The power from that cabling would be used every day. In this circumstance, it's only been used 20 days a year.
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  And that's an unusual scenario for National Power and National Grid to be dealing with.
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  And that's why it's quite difficult in that sense, because they're laying cables and, you know,
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  we're then also going to have to, you know, put in quite a big spike of demand in that location that isn't used.
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  That big spike is probably only going to get used eight days a year, not even the full 20, because that's when the stages are operational.
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  Of course, yeah, indeed. In terms of this move and the expected reductions, I dare say that, you know, there have been estimates and calculations done in advance.
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  How does the sort of the data stack up in terms of the carbon reductions and the sustainability aspects of this new installation compared to the more traditional ways of delivering the power?
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  Well, it's not phenomenal gain, James. I can't pretend that it's a phenomenal gain.
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  It's an improvement. And it's a show of intent as much as it is on massive gain, because, you know, the overall footprint, I mean, the overall footprint for somewhere like, carbon footprint for somewhere like Finsbury Park is actually really good as a sort of, you know, sort of comparative with other
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  events in that sense, because Finsbury Park is a public transport destination. There is no car parking. People don't drive.
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  And clearly the biggest and most, you know, most carbon usage that any festival event or any music event uses, particularly in temporary locations, is car usage.
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  And that's where the biggest carbon footprint comes from. In Finsbury Park, we don't have a huge car usage because, you know, people use the train and the tube or indeed walk.
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  So it's not what we get from it is not a really significant reduction. It's a reduction, but not a really significant reduction, James.
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  Arguably, is it worth it? Economically, there could be an argument that says no. I make no bones about it. There could be an argument that says no.
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  There is an argument from myself that says it's the right thing to do, and therefore we should do it.
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  The economics are not such that it's worse, but it's not massive gains and it's not massive gain in footprint because we only use biodiesel as well anyway.
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  Across all of my shows, I only use biodiesel. So it's a statement of intent. It's a statement of believing we have to continue to do the right things.
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  It's not a huge gain. I wish it was a huge gain, but it's not.
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  But, you know, once it is complete, undoubtedly there must be and there will be operational benefits because I guess one of the first things that has to come on site when you're setting up the park for any major event is the power.
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  Is those generators coming on site? They require delivery. They need to be brought in. They need to be rigged and set up and made operational.
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  So presumably from an operational perspective, you can find some efficiencies and logistical efficiencies improvements with this process?
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  Unquestionably, of course, you know, there are definitely operational, there are definitely carbon footprint improvements.
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  Don't get me wrong, 100% there are, but they're not massive.
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  And that's the point I'm making, really, that they're not massive, but they are important.
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  Every bit is important in that sense of it, James.
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  So, and of course, there are operational efficiencies.
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  It means that, you know, we don't need those generators, you know, arriving quite so early, you know, to fire up the crew catering, to fire up the production offices, etc., etc.
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  That's really the only reason we have generators operating so early is for, you know, crew and production, you know, crew catering, etc.
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  So it certainly saves on all of that.
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  We still have to have the electricians there because they've still got to get us connected up.
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  But yeah, it's operationally, it's definitely a benefit.
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  Will the actual, once the domains is configured and operational, will the source of that power come from, are you intending that that comes from renewable sourced energy as well?
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  Oh, 100%. Yes. I mean, I wouldn't be doing this unless we were absolutely getting renewable source energy.
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  That's exactly the same as what I've done with the electric picnic in Ireland.
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  You know, we take this, we only take renewable sourced energy.
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  No question about that. Yeah.
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  And in terms of the wider impact on the events industry, first of all, we've said a couple of times already that this is a UK first.
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  Are you hoping that this leads to other organisers, other councils, other authorities, stakeholders involved in outdoor events of any kind across the UK, looking at this project, how it manifests itself once it's operational and deciding, actually, this is something that we could do?
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  Oh, 100%. Yeah. I mean, I think that's, it's something that everybody can do.
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  What I've discovered in the process is that it's not actually that complicated.
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  You need to be patient with the process, but it isn't that complicated.
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  And therefore, you know, you really don't need a massive skill set. And as long as you've got a decent planner, you know, that's able to take some, you know, some of the sort of planning authority responsibilities from you, which, you know, people can do.
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  As long as you've got that in place, it's really not that difficult at all. Of course, they cost money and the installation costs money.
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  You have to be ready to do it, you know, financially, because you don't get your money back straight away. You don't, you know, you will get a return on investment eventually, but that will take a little bit of time to do.
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  And so, you know, from that point of view, anybody can do it as long as they're willing to be patient and recoup their money over a longer period of time.
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  Have you already, and you don't have to name names, but have you already engaged with other organisers and other people within the events industry?
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  Have they been coming to you to pick your brains and say, how are you doing this? Because this is something that we're really keeping a close eye on.
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  Yeah, very much so. Yeah. I mean, a good number of people are. I mean, you know, Festival of the Republic, we do play quite an active part in the sort of sustainability discussions within the industry.
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  You know, very much an active part. And Vicky Chapman, who leads on sustainability for me here in Live Nation and Festival Republic, is very active talking to other people all of the time.
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  And so she's having those conversations with other events, not just within, to be fair, not just within the music industry, within the broader events industry as well, because we have an active discussion with all of those as well.
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  So everybody wants to hear about it, you know, with a view to them considering whether it's the right thing for them to do or not.
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  A lot of people are already considering it, whether we were doing it or not. I mean, there's no point pretending that people will only just follow people.
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  A lot of people were considering it already, James. They may not have taken that jump, but hopefully they will.
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  Absolutely. And in terms of project timeline, I suppose it's really key that we ask that today, you know, that you broke ground in March.
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  What is the project timeline at the moment and when are you hoping that it will be operational?
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  Well, we're taking power from it at the end of June for the first Finsbury Park concert. So I guess that's, what is that, April, May, June? Yeah, three months.
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  Yeah, three months in terms of, you know, the digging and the installation and the connecting up.
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  Obviously, a lot of planning time has gone in before that. But actually, the bit with the spades and the bit with the, you know, with the spanners and the screwdrivers, that's going to be three months.
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  Wow. It seems pretty quick. And I dare say, if we dived into more of the sort of the technical aspects, I guess a lot of the stuff can be either pre-fabricated or pre-commissioned off-site.
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  You know, I guess, is it very much a case that once the hole has been dug, you bring the substation in, you bring the infrastructure in and literally drop it in?
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  It's exactly that, James. It's exactly that. And, you know, you are obviously talking with and on behalf of an events industry that, you know, produce things, events at the drop of a hat.
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  So three months actually in the events industry is quite a slow period in lots of ways. You know, we can do things an awful lot quicker.
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  We've spent that time planning it. And that's really the essence. As everybody in the industry will know, you know, events go well because of good planning.
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  And, you know, the installation of a power supply goes well because of good planning. We haven't completed it yet. I hope it will go well, but I'm sure it will.
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  Absolutely. I remember that the first time years ago that somebody ever gave me a laser measure on an event site and told me that I could use this laser measure to measure really accurately.
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  I remember using it, but then inevitably getting the measuring tape out as well and laying it down because I didn't trust it at all.
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  And, of course, inevitably over a few times of using it, your trust is built and you can put the measuring tape away.
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  Is there an intention that with these first events in June, once it is operational, that there will be a level of redundancy just in this first year?
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  Should anything happen or is the intention to go fully with the grid and the mains power in June?
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  No, we're going fully, James. No, we're fully expected. I mean, this won't be the entire site.
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  This is for the main stage and it's for crew and artist catering and it's for the production offices.
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  You know, the areas further afield within the festival will still need temporary generators.
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  So, you know, in that sense, we will still have temporary generators on site and we won't we just won't have the really large ones.
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  And but I'm fully expecting I'm not bringing them in.
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  I'm not anticipating using them and having them, you know, come in just in case the power doesn't work. The power will work.
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  I've learned that from my experience at the Electric Picnic. I'm very confident about it.
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  Given that the park's location is, you know, it's an urban park, isn't it? It's in the heart of North London.
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  Are there impacts, positive impacts to the local community environment as well by not having the generators in there?
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  I'm just thinking of things like noise, you know, is that going to be reduced out of sort of concert hours?
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  You know, you're not going to have to have generators running all night, presumably.
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  Well, I mean, you know, the generators that we use by and large are pretty silent.
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  And so they don't they're not interrupting. They're not disturbing local residents anyway.
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  But there will be other usages of it. I mean, the park gets used for filming quite a lot.
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  And, you know, they'll be able to take the power. They have a fun fair, certainly once a year, I think maybe even twice a year.
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  And the fun fair will be able to take the power where we've located it. It works for the fun fair as well.
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  So in that sense, you know, it has greater value than just our events in that sense.
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  But it's not it's not going to be widespread use.
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  And yeah, we wouldn't be allowed to use generators that were over noisy anyway, that were disturbing people's sleep.
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  So I think I think on that level, it's pretty minimal.
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  You touched a few minutes ago on the fact that Reading is now, you know, either in your thoughts or very much in the pipeline.
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  Is that given its sort of geographical location within the town itself that you are fairly close to mains power that can be accessed at Reading?
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  That certainly helps, James. Yeah, that's that, you know, for more remote events, finding the level of power that we need can be quite challenging.
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  And so but finding the power that, you know, the size of power that we need within an urban environment is obviously much, much easier in that sense.
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  Finsbury Park couldn't be easier. I mean, it is perfect in that sense, really.
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  You know, Richfield Avenue in Reading, again, you know, huge, you know, industrial and warehouses, estates and etc.
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  and leisure centres close by and things like that. Power is available. So that does make a difference.
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  And is there a is there a timeline at the moment?
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  So to put you on the spot about Reading, but having mentioned it, is there a timeline in place where you would like to see that operational and ready for a festival?
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  That will be operational for 2027. Definitely. Fantastic. Well, we'll keep that.
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  If you don't mind me asking just on a personal level as well, obviously, we've we've we've talked about all the, you know, the details of the project.
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  But on a personal level, having worked in the industry for for so long, how proud of you of the achievement?
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  Once this goes operational in June and Finsbury Park on a personal level to sort of see this go live?
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  Oh, hugely proud, actually, James. Of course I am. You know, I've tried to push through with first, you know, throughout my career in that sense.
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  And, you know, this one is very much part and parcel of that.
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  You know, it has a different perspective to creating the first legal rave or it has a different perspective to putting a comedy
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  stint on a comedy stint on for the first time and a music event and that sort of stuff.
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  And, you know, the different perspectives are creating the four day first four day music festival type of stuff, as I did with Phoenix.
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  Yeah, there's lots of things that I've done over the years. This is one that's just going to stay forever.
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  That's that's the reality. And I think the you know, for me, of course, I'm proud of it.
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  But it is just that thing of not wanting to sort of relax and not wanting to rest on laurels.
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  We have to keep doing better. And I think as an industry, I don't think there's many industries as good as us wanting to do better year on year.
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  And that that's that's a pride in the industry, not necessarily a personal pride.
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  And I think that, you know, that's very much part of what I bring to it, but also part of what an awful lot of other people bring to it.
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  No, absolutely. And you're right to highlight that because there aren't any industries that I know of where somebody will walk around and think already, I could do that better in a year's time.
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  You know, the moment that doors are opened or something goes like you're already looking at going, well, that's good.
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  But I think we could do it better if we do it like this.
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  You're already you're walking around this year's event, always looking at the following years and subsequent years.
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  And for some people, it's only when they look back over a long period of time, isn't it, that they can really sort of stack up the improvements, the changes, the evolution of their events.
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  Oh, no, it is. And it isn't just the event owners or the event leaders as such.
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  When I say leaders, I mean, you know, I find it with my security companies.
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  I find it with the stewarding companies. I find it with the plumbers, the electricians, everybody.
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  You know, certainly of all the contractors I use, they're all incredibly proactive about saying, if we did this, we could do it better and it probably end up cheaper.
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  But we could definitely do it better if we do this. And it's wonderful.
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  It is. It's it's it's one of the things that, you know, makes the job so worthwhile, makes the life so worthwhile is the is the the desire of every aspect of the industry to be better.
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  And, yeah, everybody's feeding upwards. Everybody's feeding downwards. Everybody's feeding sideways to make things better. It's lovely.
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  Absolutely. And it strikes me that this is a real, you know, legacy is the word that springs to mind.
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  You know, once once this particular site is operational, inevitably it's going to lead to more.
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  But this will become become a real sort of legacy for the events industry, for the Federal Republic, for the local council even, you know, it's important to recognize that we're seeing more and more local authorities really using events as being at the heart of their their communities
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  and using that to really improve the areas that they serve.
• 24:51
  And I think it's probably important before we wrap up today to sort of recognize the role that Haringey Council probably played in this in supporting the project.
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  Yes, I mean, you know, the leader of Haringey Council has been absolutely fantastic.
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  She's really pushed for this. You know, she's it's been we've both been pushing together.
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  She's been terrific throughout in that sense, really. And so, you know, that's really important.
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  But it is that, you know, councils have to recognize or have recognized that, you know, government support, government money, the amount that they can charge on rates, etc.
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  It's all been squeezed. And in order to put money back into culture and into parks and leisure, they need to recoup money.
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  They need to sort of generate money in that sense of it. So it's really important.
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  And, you know, they're saying, well, you know, Haringey, very clear.
• 25:52
  Look, you know, Haringey, Finsbury Park itself has been used since 1990.
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  I was the first person to put a concert, a show in there in that sense of it, in a big outdoor festival with the first flower festival in June 1990.
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  So that, you know, that will be, you know, in that sense, we've got a long legacy there.
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  There'll be a longer legacy because the park will continue to get used. Why not put electricity in? Why not?
• 26:22
  Absolutely. It's been lovely talking to you today. Thank you very much for taking time out on what is inevitably a busy Monday to have a chat with us about this.
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  And please do keep in touch with Event Industry News about the developments there.
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  We'd love to find out, you know, how things are progressing over the next few months.
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  And indeed, you know, get in touch once you've had those first fully operational concerts there in June this year.
• 26:44
  We'd love to find out how everything went. And I'm sure the rest of the events industry is keeping a close eye on this to find out how it's gone.
• 26:51
  It's been great to chat to my guest today on the Event Industry News podcast, MD of Festival Republic, Melvin Ben.
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  Melvin, thank you very much for joining us today.
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  Thanks, James. Appreciate the time you give me.
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  and all the other stuff that I've just mentioned. Thanks very much again today to my guest, Melvin Ben.
• 28:03
  We'll see you on the next edition of the Event Industry News podcast, everybody.