London Pleasure Gardens hits great turmoil

The expected home for East London’s arts venue, London Please Gardens, has entered into voluntary administration after a string of failed events. 

The purpose of the 20-acre site was to entertain Olympic visitors and art-enthusiasts with specialist events over the summer period. However, the Pontoon Dock ground managed to attract less than 7000 visitors a day. It was expected that the park would bring in over 35,000 daily visitors.

A month after launching, the grounds were plagued by problems. After a £3m loan from Newham Council and backing of London Mayor Boris Johnson, the venue could no longer sustain itself.

It is claimed that staff wages and architecture fees have not been covered, followed by the creative director resigning this week.

The gardens were hit with a negative start after the much-anticipated music festival, Bloc, was shut down within the first day by police over safety fears. The music event was due to take place over a two-day period in July, however, concerns of over-crowding and poor facilities lead to the decision for the event to be cancelled. The headliners, Snoop Dogg and Orbital failed to perform due to the closing decision.

 

Bloc ticket holders await to see if they will be refunded.

Tickets for the event were priced up to £125 to see a wide collection of artists perform over the weekend before the disappointment occurred.

Consequently, Baselogic Productions, the company behind Bloc, have also gone bust and been titled – “The worst festival of all time”.

Three other music events which were due to take part in the London Pleasure Gardens have retreated to locate their events elsewhere in the aftereffect.

Bloc ticket holders will have to be patient on whether they will be refunded, with the official website claiming, “It is important that we understand the full facts including what funds will be available to creditors and ticketholders and to ensure the information we provide about the next stages of administration is clear and concise.”

 

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