Festival-goers soaking up the atmosphere at last year's One Love Festival

Upminster to become home to the One Love Festival

Lee-Ann Richards, Reporter Tuesday, January 8, 2013
6:00 PM

Havering is set to become home to the UK’s biggest reggae festival for the next five years.

The One Love Festival will be held at the Damyns Hall Aerodrome in Aveley Road, Upminster from Friday August 16 to Sunday August 18.

Organiser Dan Wiltshire said: “It’s the only UK reggae festival and it is a very multicultural event.

“We have people coming from Birmingham and Cornwall so it is going to put the borough on the map for reggae music.”

The family festival is set to attract more than 5,000 music fans who can look forward to artists including Ijahman Levi, Sir David Rodigan and Sister Nancy.

A main stage is set to go up on the 122 acre site, as well as four marquees, a children’s play area and a number of food stalls.

The campsite will also be broadcasting live music 24 hours of the day throughout the three days.

Dan said: “We are hoping to get a big turn out this year.

“Every year it gets bigger and bigger and we will be advertising in the local area, so we hope that we will be able to attract people who live in the borough.”

The festival was launched six years ago as part of the UK’s 30 anniversary celebrations of Jamaica’s One Love Peace Concert in 1978.

The festival took place in 2010 and 2011 in Hainault Country Park, but had to move to Kent last year because the park was being used for the Olympics.

Dan said that he thought that Havering was the perfect location for the festival because of the good transport links and its location.

He said: “The access is good, the position is good and it’s a venue that we can mode into our own and really take ownership of it.

“The festival has got a really good reputation it is a relatively small and is for a family market and we have never had any incidents at any of our festivals.”

Keith Reynolds the manager of the Damyns Hall Aerodrome said: “I think it is a good thing for the borough.

“There is nothing else like this in Havering and it will help people to get through the winter months.”