Councillors have refused the Italian food festival a licence for Richmond Green in June 2027, citing crowd safety, the fence and noise. It has 21 days to appeal.

The Marzamemi Festival has been refused a licence to hold its three-day Italian food event on Richmond Green next June. A council licensing sub-committee turned the application down after a hearing on 19 October. Its decision notice, issued on 26 October, gives the reasons.

The company, Marzamemi Festival Ltd, wanted to fence off part of the Green for up to 4,999 people a day on 25, 26 and 27 June 2027, with alcohol sales and music. We set out the application and the objections before the hearing.

Why the councillors said no

Three councillors sat: Lesley Pollesche (chair), Seamus Joyce and Matthew Hull. They found that a licence would not uphold three of the four licensing objectives: preventing crime and disorder, public safety, and preventing public nuisance.

Their reasons, from the notice:

  • The Green is already busy in June. The event would fall at a “traditionally busy time”, near pubs, on an area the notice calls “already a hotspot for antisocial behaviour”. It notes the Metropolitan Police’s use of Section 35 dispersal orders there.
  • The fence could be breached. With crowds on the open Green outside, the sub-committee saw “a significant risk” of people without tickets getting in, which could push the event over its capacity.
  • Too few ways in and out. There would be one entrance, used as the only exit outside emergencies, and four emergency exits. The councillors were not satisfied the numbers inside could be safely accommodated.
  • The plan left out the trees. The site plan did not allow for an inner boundary around the trees, so the usable space would be smaller than shown.
  • It looked alcohol led. The application called the festival a “boutique family friendly celebration” that was not alcohol led. The notice says the festival’s website suggests otherwise, and that the event is sponsored by Aperol.
  • Noise could not be conditioned away. Given the homes around the Green, the councillors decided no conditions could prevent “significant public nuisance” over the three days and the build and breakdown either side.

The notice also says the festival “has provided a positive cultural experience” in the borough and ran successfully at Old Deer Park.

What the festival offered

The company’s case at the hearing, as the notice records it:

  • the arena would cover just under 16,000 square metres, 38% of the Green, with 62% left open
  • daily capacity of 4,999, with more than 2.5 square metres per person
  • all music inside marquees, with off-site sound capped at 15 decibels above background and a separate 20 decibel cap on bass, under continuous independent monitoring
  • closing at 9pm on Friday and Saturday and 7pm on Sunday, with alcohol and entertainment ending 30 minutes earlier, a cut of half an hour offered at the hearing
  • children free, a zero glass policy, bag searches and Challenge 25
  • 48 conditions in all, and no objection from any responsible authority, including the police

It said the music listed on its website was from previous years and that nothing had been booked yet for 2027.

One point corrected at the hearing

Our earlier report said Richmond Green sits inside the town centre’s Cumulative Impact Zone, where new licences face a presumption of refusal. At the end of the hearing the council’s legal officer corrected an earlier statement and advised that the policy did not apply, because the Green lies just outside the zone. The refusal rests on the licensing objectives, not on that policy.

Who was heard

The council received 55 representations: 45 objections and 10 in support. At the hearing the sub-committee heard from the applicant, one supporter, ward councillors Massimo Chiesa and Chris Varley, Councillor Katie Mansfield, the Richmond Society, the Friends of Richmond Green and residents speaking for Portland Terrace and Old Palace Lane.

Councillor Varley told the hearing that the Met’s South Richmond Safer Neighbourhoods Team had recently engaged with more than 100 young people on the Green, and that a Section 35 dispersal order had been put in place a week earlier.

The minutes record one declaration. Councillor Joyce said he had been the operational lead for the Richmond May Fair from 2022 to 2025 and had sat on the Richmond May Ball committee for the last two years. He also said he was a member of the Richmond Society, to the extent of occasionally joining its walks. He took part in the decision.

What it means for you

There will be no licensed festival on Richmond Green in June 2027 unless the decision is overturned. The company, and anyone who made a representation, can appeal to Lavender Hill magistrates’ court within 21 days of receiving the notice. The appeal process is set out in Annex B.

A licence was only half of what the festival needed. The council’s legal officer told the hearing that the council, as owner of the Green, would decide separately whether to let the festival use it. Formal event approval, the applicant said, would not come until six weeks before the event.

Nothing stops the festival returning to Old Deer Park, where objectors and the sub-committee both said it had run well. We will report any appeal. For what else is on in town, see things to do in Richmond.

Sources