Zimfest Attendees Accused of Urinating in Residents’ Gardens as UK Venue Apologises
Zimfest Attendees Accused of Urinating in Residents’ Gardens as UK Venue Apologises – Residents living near Delapré Abbey in Northampton have complained of widespread disruption following this year’s Zimfest, with some accusing festivalgoers of urinating and even defecating in residential gardens after the event.
According to the Northampton Chronicle, about 11,000 people attended Zimfest, regarded as the United Kingdom’s biggest celebration of Zimbabwean and African culture, music and heritage, on Saturday. The festival featured musicians from Zimbabwe alongside UK-based performers.
Far Cotton ward councillor Julie Davenport said she had received numerous complaints from residents, describing the aftermath of the event as deeply disturbing.
“The evidence I have seen includes antisocial behaviour, persistent horn sounding long after the event had finished, shouting and abuse, people urinating in residents’ gardens, one incident of defecation in a front garden, dangerous parking, and vehicles blocking or parking across residents’ driveways,” Davenport said.
“For many local people, it was an absolute nightmare.”
She questioned whether adequate planning had been put in place to minimise disruption, describing the organisation of the event as “an unmitigated failure” from the residents’ perspective. However, Davenport said her criticism was not aimed at Delapré Abbey or its staff, adding that she wanted the venue to continue hosting successful community events.
The Northampton Chronicle reported that heavy traffic also caused major congestion after many motorists ignored the official park-and-ride service and instead parked on nearby residential streets, leaving some driveways blocked.
Delapré Abbey has since apologised to residents and pledged to work with organisers, local authorities and the community to prevent similar problems in future.
Amanda Nichols of Delapré Abbey said residents would be invited to meetings to discuss what went wrong.
“We are currently investigating all the various different elements of the event and we’ll be reviewing going forward what happens with this event. The organisers will equally be working with me to go through and review all of this. And we are listening to the community,” Nichols said.
She added that organisers had arranged a park-and-ride service from the Northampton Saints rugby ground and instructed ticket holders not to drive directly to the venue.
“We had booked the Saints ground to do park and ride. The instructions to ticket holders was not to come to Delapré. It was to use the park and ride. However, people tried their luck,” she said.
Delapré Abbey said it would conduct a full review of the event with organisers and residents before making decisions on future editions of Zimfest.
