Fight to stop more Blackweir gigs as people return to fields

A fight to stop more Blackweir Live gigs — which hosted Noah Kahan, Stevie Wonder, Slayer and Alanis Morissette this summer — has begun as people return to the Cardiff city centre park. Bryana Francis reports

- Bryana Francis reports

WITH Blackweir Live all packed up, at least for now, the debate about whether it should’ve gone ahead is far from over.

A group of Cardiff residents met up in Bute Park on Sunday to “reclaim the park” following the series of Blackweir Live concerts.

Those at the picnic, publicised by the Friends of Bute Park, were disappointed by the lengthy amount of time a large part of the park was closed off to the public and had concerns about the environmental impact.

Cardiff council has said it is committed to a review of the events.

At the picnic, Simon White, a landscape architect, explained how events like Blackweir Live could impact nature.

He said: “My main concern is the incremental damage to the character of the park and the trees within the park and other parts of the nature.

“The council were very lucky this time that it was very dry, the ground was firm and so lots of people walking across, around and through trees probably didn’t damage them.

“The trouble is that if you have events like this on a regular basis, in this historic park, you may over time damage trees and therefore that will affect the character of the park and that will degrade the park over time.”

Emma Vafidis lives within the park boundary. She experienced issues with the noise levels and had trouble accessing her own home.

She also spoke about the worrying knock-on effect with the wildlife, noting that all the songbirds and ducks she used to see in her garden disappeared after the concerts began and have not yet returned.

She added: “My children were coming back from a school production as people were coming out of the first gig and before the gig I spoke to the council guy and he reassured me that my children would be able to get home.