Colchester Castle Park now on concert venue map

Some 5,000 people braved the rain to take in KT Tunstall, The Pretenders and Simple Minds at the beauty spot on Sunday.

That show came hot on the heels of a Steps and Blue double act in June.

The plan is for the park to become home to a well-known act every summer.

Tim Young, Colchester councillor responsible for business and culture, said: “When an event is as successful as these two concerts have been, it does show what we can offer in Colchester.

“I know the weather wasn’t exactly what you would have hoped for but it was a big success despite that.

“And I think what we want to do going forward is have that sort of thing every year.”

“There is obviously a restriction on how many we do in Castle Park because we do not want to over-do it for residents around the park.

“But there is no doubt we now have a a concert venue which is known on the circuit which has a wonderful backdrop and I am really pleased that the two concerts this year have been huge successes both in terms of ticket sales and experience.”

Nick Barlow, Colchester councillor responsible for commercial services, said: “Both of the summer concerts have done really well and for us it is now about learning how we can better manage events like this, whether the noise was a problem for residents and whether parking was marshalled.

“As well as our own review, we will now be in discussions with promoters and without doubt we are certainly looking at staging things like this in the future.

“A lot of that will be looking at who’s touring next summer and looking for the size of venue we can offer.

“One of the most pleasing things was the ticket sales to both concerts and the number of people who came from Colchester from outside to attend them - which is very important for our vision for the town.”

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