Tramlines music festival must stump up more money to stay in Hillsborough Park

Crowds at the 2023 Tramlines Festival at Hillsborough Park, Sheffield

The Tramlines music festival will have to pay more to stay in Sheffield’s Hillsborough Park for another five years – but the details won’t be shared with the public.

Next week, at Sheffield City Council’s Charity Trustee Sub-Committee meeting, members will hear that Tramlines, Sheffield’s largest music festival, is to stay in Hillsborough for at least five years.

A new agreement has been made between the Tramlines Events Limited (TEL) and Sheffield City Council and that will see the company pay more to hold the next five events in Hillsborough Park.

However, the exact details of the increased fee are in a document that is restricted from the public.

A report stated: “The council cannot disclose (in the public report) the current fee paid by Tramlines to the Hillsborough Park Charity because this is deemed commercially sensitive information, as confirmed by the Information Commissioners Office on 31st January 2023.

“Tramlines regard their fee as commercially sensitive because the summer festival market is very competitive, and the pricing of their tickets incorporates their costs and expertise.”

The report published before the meeting stated that TEL has held the licence to hold the Tramlines festival since 2018.

The report added that there was a standard licence application fee of £70 for large-scale events and a multiplier fee was added depending on the scale of the event – the multiplier for the Tramlines is £8,000 and so TEL pays a total of £8,070 for its premises licence each year.

Now, following a review that started in 2022, coupled with the issues experienced following adverse weather in 2023, a comprehensive review of this licence agreement has taken place.

The report added: “This included ensuring there is clear agreement on how the park will be protected, and should the unfortunate situation arise, how decisions around cancelling the event will be taken and by whom.

“The revised licence agreement is being negotiated and finalised by SCC (Sheffield City Council) and TEL and includes a fee schedule for the next five events in Hillsborough Park (from 2024).

“The last published fee paid by TEL for the hire of Hillsborough Park was £33,500 in 2021. The fee is negotiated on a commercial basis and in consideration of other similar events.”

It is reported that TEL requested that SCC allocate a portion of the increased fee as a restricted donation to the Hillsborough Park Charity.

Tramlines will also donate £500 to help volunteers continue “their valuable work in the park”.

Also in the report is a summary of the last five years.

It said that since 2018, Tramlines has raised more than £210,000 for local Sheffield charities, donated more than 500 free tickets to key workers, charities and carers, hosted 68 work placements for local university students and offered 226 paid local emerging artists slots.