Lowedges Festival Greenhill Park: Major Sheffield event ‘cannot take place’ in 2023 with uncertain future

The Lowedges festival, which takes place at Greenhill Park, traditionally attracts as many as 15,000 visitors every year during August, but the traditional organisers say it will not happen this summer.

Now there are proposals to hold a public meeting to try and find a way to bring it back for 2024 and beyond.

Stephen Rich, the secretary of the Lowedges Community Festival Group, who is semi-retiring, confirmed it would not happen in 2023 because more help was needed to run it this year.

He said: “After last year’s huge success and approximately 16 years after its beginning, and an average footfall of 12,000 to 15,000, with my semi-retirement, Sheffield’s biggest free entry festival and Sheffield’s biggest classic car/ bike event cannot take place this year.

“The committee needs help and despite hoping to work with Sheffield City Council this year, it was decided that the festival needed further help and several ideas are in place for 2024. We hope a solution can be found in the autumn. It may have to move to a bigger site to cope with its huge demand and that's the major problem – it’s become a problem of its huge success.

“We know thousands will be upset, but if the event is to have a future it needs several problems to be sorted long term.”

He expressed his thanks to the council, MP Louse Haigh and ward councillors Simon Clement-Jones and Richard Shaw and as well as the organising group, and added they would try to find a solution for 2024.

Coun Shaw said he was aware that organisers were trying to find volunteers to take some of the tasks involved on, and said the council and local councillors supported the festival, which he described as a fantastic event for the local community.

He said one suggestion had been to organise a public meeting, getting community groups together to try to get more people involved. He said the council traditionally provided logistical support, and some funding for things including insurance.

He said anyone interested in getting involved could contact the organisers or ward councillors.