Chelmsford gets ready for Creamfields
Chelmsford’s Hylands Estate is preparing to host the first ever Creamfields South in 3 weeks’ time during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
More than 100 acts at Creamfields
The renowned electronic music festival, which is organised and promoted by Cream and Festival Republic, will run from Thursday 2 June to Saturday 4 June with the main line-up scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Creamfields officially opens from midday on 2 June for campers who have opted for a 3-day camping ticket. Over the course of the festival more than a hundred acts will entertain crowds across 8 stages.
Final tickets on sale
Tickets are still on sale with both day and camping options available, although day tickets for Saturday are now limited. Campers will be able to choose between a standard ticket and a VIP Gold option with a hospitality garden and lounge area.
Gold campers will also have exclusive access to pamper hubs, showers, proper toilets, plus Gold customers (including Gold day ticket holders) will be served up a complimentary meal each day. There’ll be dedicated bars in the Gold zone too, serving cocktails and prosecco.
Superstar DJs in the line-up
The first full day of the festival is on Friday 3 June with David Guetta and Fatboy Slim on the Main Stage, and Eric Prydz and Charlotte de Witte playing the Mega Arena. On Saturday Calvin Harris, MK and Sarah Story take to the Main Stage with Carl Cox and Amelie Lens headlining the arena.
Chelmsford City Council’s Leader, Cllr Stephen Robinson, says the event puts the city firmly back on the festival map.
““Holding the inaugural Creamfields South is a big moment for the city as we re-establish Chelmsford as a destination for one of the UK’s major music festivals. This event will be a truly amazing spectacle, bringing people together from all over the country to enjoy music from some of the world’s biggest artists.
Cllr Stephen Robinson, Leader, Chelmsford City Council
An inspiring event of national significance is incredibly valuable for our city’s growing cultural scene and this connection with a global music brand could help the arts sector to flourish in Chelmsford in the years to come. Creamfields will also bring in crucial revenue to the City Council, to support local services, and give a boost to our local economy.”
June Creamfields replaces August V Festival
Creamfields replaces V as the estate’s annual major music festival, which used to run in August. The festival is now being held in June, in part to ensure that the park is available to residents in the summer holidays at the busiest time of the year.
Creamfields has a smaller footprint than V and a large part of the 574 acre estate will be unaffected while the festival is being set up and taken down. This includes the area around Hylands House and The Stables, the Pleasure Gardens, the east and south park areas, the Serpentine Lake, and the One World garden, which will all be open most of the time.
Preparations begin on 19 May
In other areas you may notice preparations under way. The adventure castle playground, public toilets and nearby car park at the Writtle end will be closed from 19 May to keep everyone safe while heavy vehicles and machinery are operating on the main festival construction site. A temporary car park and toilets will open in the north-eastern corner of the park next to the Parish Church of St. Mary in Widford during this period.
The whole park will close between Wednesday 1 and Sunday 5 June while Creamfields is running, as it did for V. Apart from Creamfields ticketholders, only those with pre-authorised access, such as people attending weddings at Hylands House, will have access to the estate.
Cllr Rose Moore, Chelmsford City Council’s Cabinet Member for Greener and Safer Chelmsford says it’s all about striking a balance between objectives.
““We’d love to have a festival with absolutely no impact on the park but an impressive event like Creamfields requires a complex set up. Although we know some will be disappointed that the popular adventure playground will be closed in the lead up to the festival, on balance it’s better for this to happen outside of the summer holidays when the impact would be far greater.
Cllr Rose Moore, Cabinet Member for Greener and Safer Chelmsford
"The temporary closure of our castle play park gives us the opportunity to carry out repairs so that the playground can operate for longer before it next has to be shut for maintenance. There’s also a payback for families visiting Hylands this August – in the past we wouldn’t have been able to offer anything else because of V, but this year we’ll have events like ‘Dinosaurs in the Park’ during the school summer holiday for children to enjoy.”
All the latest about Creamfields online
If you’re thinking about booking a ticket to Creamfields South or just interested in finding out more, the Creamfields website and social media channels will have all the latest festival news. The Hylands Estate website has information about access to the park during May and June while Creamfields is on, including a map with details of any areas affected.
If you aren’t going to Creamfields and you’d like to find out about Platinum Jubilee events happening throughout Chelmsford, take a look at our City Life guide.
Chelmsford has many Green Flag parks, green spaces, recreation and play areas in addition to Hylands Estate. To find out more about alternative places to visit all over the city while Hylands Park is closed for Creamfields, go to www.loveyourchelmsford.co.uk.
Julie writes stories and creates videos for Chelmsford City Council. Contact her at julie.weight@chelmsford.gov.uk or on 01245 606984.