BOXING, Ibiza, dance music and 90s boys bands could all be heading to Reading’s Palmer Park next summer.
Events company T&M Leisure is hoping to stage four one-day events next June in the park, off Wokingham Road, and said the line-up would include the bands Blue, Scouting For Girls and Boyzlife.
Similar events were held at the venue on a smaller scale this summer. Now, it is seeking to double capacity to allow just under 10,000 people the opportunity to attend.
T&M Leisure CEO Toby Mullins said: “The student boxing has been in place there for the last two years, and are held at various council-run venues, we had one at the Best Parties Ever site in Kings Meadow as well.
“The boxing event will be happening on a Thursday, on the Friday there will be the Ibiza Summertime live orchestra, Stories in the Park on Saturday and a boy bands event on the Sunday.”
The events would run from Thursday, June 13, through to Sunday, June 16.
The Stories in the Park events have been held in Reading for four years attracting thousands of young festival-goers.
Initially set up as a small day party for university students, the events got so much interest that they were moved to Palmer Park, with huge music acts such as Chase & Status, Andy C and Sub Focus gracing the stage in the past.
Mr Mullins said: “We’re doubling the size of the site. It will go from one big top to two big tops, allowing us to double capacity.”
Sunday’s event would be staged by Legacy Live Events and features Boyzlife, a supergroup made up of members of Boyzone and West Life.
As for the boxing events, Mr Mullins said: “It’s an amazing opportunity for students to participate. They train over eight weeks, then there’s the main event.”
For all of these events to go ahead as planned, T&M Leisure must obtain permission from Reading Borough Council’s licensing department.
It has applied to sell alcohol and provide entertainment from noon to 10pm for each day of the music events and until 10.30pm for the boxing event. In all, it would stage events on eight days a year.
Mr Mullins explained: “We’ve already had consent for the activities applied for. The application allows us to increase the capacity from 5,000 to 9,999.”
T&M Leisure is also behind the project to convert the old Evening Post printworks in Tessa Road into a food and music venue.
Comments, which are public, can be made about the licensing application by emailing: licensing@reading.gov.uk. The closing date for submissions is Wednesday, January 3, 2024.
