Hackney Council has raised no objection to plans allowing festival promoter AEG Presents to occupy substantial parts of Victoria Park for up to 75 days a year, despite opposition over the loss of public space during the summer holidays.

The six-year application awaits a decision from Tower Hamlets Council, which manages the park. Green-led Hackney borders the site to the north; its planning department’s response, published on 28 October, does not amount to planning approval.

The proposal covers All Points East, Lido and the community-focused In The Neighbourhood event. Crucially, the requested allowance includes building and dismantling festival sites, rather than 75 days of performances.

AEG says it intends to occupy sites for up to 66 days annually, but seeks nine additional days for flexibility, particularly weather-related delays. It maintains that the application “does not constitute an intensification” of previous offerings and promises at least 28 days between All Points East and Lido when the park would return to public use.

Opponents argue that the duration and footprint remain excessive. Victoria Park Community Association chair Mary Pimm said the festivals “block off a huge part of the park that people can’t use”. Sports England and Historic England also raised concerns during consultation.

Uma Kumaran, Labour MP for Stratford and Bow, called 75 days “too much time” during the summer. She said: “In the midst of a climate crisis, and during the summer holidays when not every family can afford holidays abroad, the park is as vital to our community as it has ever been.”

The application follows a High Court ruling after a legal challenge concerning festivals at Brockwell Park in Lambeth. Temporary land uses lasting up to 28 days do not require planning permission. Organisers and councils had understood that limit to cover public event days only; the ruling last year established that setting up and dismantling must also count.

Under AEG’s proposals, All Points East would again occupy most of the large southern and eastern fields. Lido would use four fields south and east of the memorial drinking fountain. Lido, launched in 2025 across two weekends, was reduced to one day this year to allow the parkland to recover; AEG hopes to restore a multi-day event.

Councils have previously defended park festivals as a means of supporting strained budgets. For Tower Hamlets, the unresolved decision concerns the full period of occupation and its effect on public access, not simply the number of concert days.