Controversial 'Zimfest' 'WILL NOT BE RETURNING' to popular Northampton venue after 'horrendous' weekend

The controversial festival is not expected to return to the Abbey following meetings between residents, councillors and venue bosses.

Zimfest, billed as the UK's largest celebration of African culture, music and heritage, was held on July 25, with attendance estimated at 11,000 to 11,500.

The event triggered widespread anger in Far Cotton and surrounding streets after motorists flooded residential roads, with complaints including blocked driveways, dangerous parking, anti-social behaviour, shouting, abuse and people urinating in residents' gardens.

One resident also reported an incident of defecation in a front garden.

At the time, the Abbey apologised and promised residents a voice in a review of what went wrong. It said traffic management measures, including a park-and-ride service, had been put in place but acknowledged the arrangements had not gone to plan.

Now Delapre and Rushmere councillor Julie Davenport has given a fresh update following meetings between the Abbey and residents.

Independent councillor Davenport said: "The Zimfest at Delapré Abbey turned into a horrendous weekend for many local residents, who were understandably very upset by what happened.

“Fortunately, the Abbey’s CEO and deputy CEO genuinely care about the community and are committed to making improvements. They were very willing to meet with residents, listen to their concerns and work towards finding solutions.

“Those meetings couldn’t have been easy, with residents understandably expressing their frustration, but they proved to be very productive for both the Abbey and the community.

“Residents are pleased that Zimfest will not be returning to Delapré Abbey, and I believe an event of this size would be much better suited to a non-residential location.

“I hope we can now all work together to ensure that next year’s traffic management is better planned, better managed meaning events are much more enjoyable for everyone – especially the local community."

Delapré Abbey has been contacted for comment.

Immediately after the event, Amanda Nichols of Delapré Abbey said staff had been going door-to-door listening to residents.

She said: “We are listening. We are not just going to roll forward and say, 'It'll happen again next year,' with no changes.

"There'll be a review and, as we listen to everyone, we won't make any final decisions or make any changes until we have heard from everybody.

"Then we will publish and share what the next steps are."

Ms Nichols said the impact on staff had been ‘soul destroying’, adding that Far Cotton residents ‘shouldn't have had to deal with what they did’.

She also defended the £30 parking charge, saying it was intended to encourage visitors to use the cheaper park-and-ride service.

She said: "There's probably a perspective of that being about greed and it wasn't. It was more because we want people to use the park and ride. The park and ride was cheaper."

Ms Nichols previously said the Abbey had carried out due diligence before contracting Zimfest, including speaking to the festival's previous venue.

She said: "Before this festival got contracted, we did quite a lot of due diligence. We spoke with the previous venue (which hosted Zimfest) and had positive reviews."

Immediately after the event, Zimfest apologised to Far Cotton residents and said it was conducting a ‘full debrief’ with partners and reviewing feedback to establish where improvements could be made.

Zimfest has been contacted for an update on that debrief.