City festival could return next year

Nottingham City Council is aiming to bring back the Riverside Festival in 2027, a senior councillor has said.

The event, once billed as "the East Midlands' biggest free family festival", has traditionally taken place in August at the Victoria Embankment but was scaled back in 2024 due to the authority's financial constraints.

The 2025 event was then cancelled a matter of days beforehand and it is not due to take place in 2026.

Now the council's executive member for leisure, culture and tourism, David Mellen, has told the BBC an improved financial position at the authority means it could return next summer.

"It wasn't our intention to get rid of it but the cuts we had to make to our events budget meant it had to go," he said.

"But it was popular and so with a little bit more money in our coffers we are hoping to bring it back in 2027."

Mellen, who was leader of the council when it effectively declared bankruptcy in 2023, said plans for a new event were at an early stage but suggested it could have "a bit of a Robin Hood theme."

"If we're wanting to expand our visitor economy to give more money to our hospitality services, our restaurants and bars, then I don't think we can do wrong by making more of Robin Hood," he said.

He added, however, that there may not be a firework display.

"I just think there's a question about whether that is consistent with our policy of trying to reduce our carbon and other emissions," he said.

"I'm not saying no, but I don't know that we need fireworks to have a good time."

Asked why the festival could not be held this year, Mellen said the event takes "significant amounts of planning".

"Booking the various utilities that are needed, booking music bands, those kind of things, it just wasn't possible to do it this year," he said.

The event was raised at a full council meeting on Monday by Nottingham Independents councillor Kevin Clarke, who asked what scope there was for the festival to "expand into the void that Splendour's absence will leave".

It follows confirmation that this year's Splendour festival at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park will be the last.

Mellen said that while Splendour was a "great day in a wonderful settting", the two events were not comparable.

"Riverside is different [to Splendour] in terms of the cost to citizens and hopefully people will be able to go along to it without having to spend a huge amount of money," he said.

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