Mini-Glastonbury: MattsBBQ have been staging events like this since 2012. On Saturday, they are hoping for 6,000 party-goers at Purley Way playing fields
A mile-long stretch of Pampisford Road between South Croydon and Purley, plus Waddon Way and other residential side roads on the Waddon Estate, are to be closed to traffic all day on Saturday, because someone called Matt is having a barbeque…
MattsBBQ is a major event organiser, specialising in staging music festival-style events featuring an array of DJs, and drawing huge crowds.
This Saturday, MattsBBQ is taking place on the Purley Way playing fields, alongside the A23, with significant traffic disruption expected. The organisers are hoping for as many as 6,000 attendees at what they call “the world’s biggest BBQ”.
No such thing as a free drink: top-priced tickets for Saturday are £156
No information about the road closures, or the event, can be found on the council’s own website.
Croydon Council granted a licence to the organisers, with the local police raising no objections.
Pampisford Road is to be closed to traffic, except residents, from 9am until 11pm on July 2, with similar restrictions apply on other streets around the playing fields.
Residents of the affected roads were supposed to receive special passes to use on the day, though Inside Croydon is aware that not all residents have received their pass.
By lunchtime today, the Matts BBQ site on the playing fields appears to be close to ready, with a section walled off, while inside the area a few tents and stages can be seen, and one not-very-big Big Top.
Tickets for the event range from £34.50 to £156 for “VIPs”.
These offer “VIP entry”, “complimentary food” (giving a new meaning to the use of “complimentary”, given the price of the tickets), “Hair and beauty stations for ladies and gents”, and even “VIP toilets”. Which is nice.
The organisers claim that they are “taking over 100+ acres at the Purley Playing Fields!”, which might be stretching the point a little, since the playing fields only comprise 109 acres in total, and what appears to be the MattsBBQ site is only a fraction of that.
MattsBBQ’s own bumpf says of their Purley Way event, “Expect the biggest vibes across three arenas. The glorious Main Stage, the bass thumping House and Garage big top tent, the Soca and Afrobeats real sand beach, and a VIP area where you are looked after from the moment you step in.”
They call it “The ultimate party”, with generous use of hashtags and spelling out “ultimate” in capitals.
The organisers really did begin with a family barbeque in Matt Robinson’s mother’s garden, expanding into a summer event business in 2012.
They say that this year “sees MattsBBQ coming home”.
This is not the first “mini-Glastonbury” music event to be staged in one of Croydon’s parks and open spaces since covid – Garage Nation organised a large-scale festival in Addington Park last year which passed off with relatively little trouble, even according to the most sceptical of Addington villagers, although inevitably there were issues over some illegal parking.
Concerns have been raised ahead of Matt having his barbecue on Purley Way playing fields, though, especially over the lack of communication from the council.
“I live locally and the first I heard about it was yesterday, when I was told that part of Goodwin Road will be closed to traffic,” one resident told Inside Croydon.
“I walked over the fields to find a corner being taped off and barrier fences erected.
“We were not consulted about this by the council, another example of the contempt in which we are held by this council.”
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What of peope who have appointmenets at Anne Nelson Veterinary or the cat boarding place next door? What about the 405 bus?
We’d suggest that you ask the council, but we all know that they won’t be answering their phones…
Not just the phones – Fishers Folly looks empty every day. No lights on and no one home. Answer machines full. Computer says no Walliams style!
Surprised at the lack of local advertising surrounding this – I live about 10 minutes walk from Purley Fields and generally keep up with live music and festivals but only knew about it the other day due to someone moaning on Nextdoor. Maybe I’m just out of the loop these days.
I live in the affected area and this is the 1st Ive heard about it.. disgusting.. how are we supposed to go about our daily business and what about the knock on effect on traffic for the surrounding area ….and thats without even mentioning the noise, trouble and mess that this event will cause ..who the h+ll approved this ?
It’s a one day event sure people will cope with the disruption for just one day…use alternative routes. There is so much gloom around the world..People need to let their hair down.
Croydon used to hub for parties and this is great news it’s the Karen’s complaints which ruined the nightlife in Croydon and subsequently left the town center in decline. We should be encouraging this not complaining. Go down there have some u miserable gits.
Who is Karen?
And your narrative about the decline of the town centre (note spelling) is entirely fallacious.
They’re a people in Burma!
And the apostrophe should be after the “s”?
This is the first that most people will have been notified about it with no time to make plans to be elsewhere. A festival /Rave on the fields is the last thing locals who have been plagued with noise issues coming from Imperial Way at the weekend car cruise (not official).
It is a disgrace that this will have been snuck in without plenty of notification for local residents.
I live on Pampisford Road and apart from some yellow closure signs nothing. And certainly no passes. Whose actually stopping traffic. Police or private security. It’ll be a disaster.
And I’ve seen no notices of ticket sale in Croydon.
Can’t wait for the sirens and helicopter buzzing overhead all night
It’s the lack of communication for me. I live 5 mins walk away and knew nothing until I passed it coming home from work yesterday. Hope my road isn’t blocked off!
I guess it’s only 1 day so we will cope but like many of us I work all week so need to get shopping, take dog for walk – which will both be disrupted – hey ho I will have to take doggie somewhere else today and eat what’s in freezer!
Blaring music most of the day , people parking cars across driveways in the surrounding streets, inconsiderate returning to said cars and then playing musical car horns………what a crap day, hope it NEVER happens again, plus loads of sirens all afternoon and couldnt hear own tv because of the blaring music. complete idiot whoever granted permission for this disgrace
Can IC use their resources to identify ‘Matt’? Is it a pseudonym?
Matt is named in the article, Christopher