It was intended to build on that 2017 Glastonbury moment, when tens of thousands of people chanted “Oh Jeremy Corbyn” in an outburst of post-election euphoria. But with Labour Live – the party’s attempt at running a music and politics festival, one year on from the Glastonbury love-in – organisers will just be hoping a few thousand people turn up and the rain holds off.
Insiders say more than 3,000 of 20,000 tickets have been sold, though the party won’t confirm this. The trade union Unite has been giving away tickets just to ensure a decent crowd at the White Hart Lane recreation ground in Tottenham, north London, on Saturday.
In a week in which Theresa May has faced incessant battles to force Brexit though the parliament, Labour staffers talk of little other than the prospects for Labour Live, with its success or otherwise being seen within the party as an indicator of whether Corbyn’s popularity has peaked.
One senior party employee said that while the idea – the brainchild of the MP Ian Lavery – was well intentioned, the leader’s team was too optimistic, declining to take on expert help and, particularly, refusing to allocate enough funding. “There was just this belief that artists would perform for free like they do in election campaigns for the good of the Labour party, but this has none of the intensity of a campaign,” one said.
Key figures in the party, led by Corbyn’s all-powerful chief of staff, Karie Murphy, have a fight on their hands to ensure the event is seen as a success. They secured a badly needed coup on Thursday when Clean Bandit were announced as headliners and ticket sales have picked up somewhat since. Up to then the best-known act had been the indie group The Magic Numbers. Well-known Corbyn supporters, the band were among those who appeared in support of the Labour leader at a rally in Birmingham where thousands gathered last June before the general election.
The difficulty in attracting high-profile acts had hampered ticket sales for months and sources say at one point in the spring Labour seriously considered cancelling the event. They decided not to after it was said at a crucial meeting that grime artist Stormzy had been booked. That turned not to be the case, and while hasty attempts were made to secure his presence it did not prove possible. Reports that he had demanded a £100,000 fee have been denied by the party.
It even proved difficult for Labour to book party stalwart Billy Bragg due to his tour commitments; Bragg already had a gig booked in Kent on Saturday night.
Labour Live’s first acts are due on the main stage shortly after noon. There will be turns from local MPs David Lammy and Kate Osamor, the party’s general secretary Jennie Formby, and Corbyn himself, who is due on at 5.30pm after an introduction from the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. Corbyn will be followed by The Magic Numbers, while “original Sex Pistol” Glen Matlock and Reverend and The Makers due on later.
Ticket prices were slashed from £35 to £10, while Corbyn got more involved in an attempt to recreate the 2017 election spirit. He told the Fire Brigades Union annual conference in Brighton last week: “We have new types of political events such as the Labour Live festival. It will have musicians, speakers, activists, trade unionists all coming together in one place … to learn from each other … but also to enjoy ourselves while reflecting on how far Labour has come as a movement.” Although not everybody in the audience was convinced.
A constant stream of leaks from inside Labour have not helped. Party sources said the festival’s drinks supplier – the Workers Beer Company – was refusing to supply beer kegs as it didn’t think there would be enough people to justify them. Organisers were said to have “gone to war” with the company, though it remains to be seen whether revellers will be served draft beer or bottles and cans.
Event costs could be as high as £1.4m, though the exact figure is a closely guarded secret and will not be known until the event is over. Insiders at Unite and Labour have said the trade union is underwriting most of the costs, though neither the party nor the union will comment.
Unite’s general secretary, Len McCluskey, is due to appear at the festival’s “solidarity tent” for People’s Question Time, while his union is also sponsoring a hip-hop karaoke event, challenging attendees to “prove you are better at karaoke than they are!”, and an ice cream van, which will carry the slogan “Ice cream lovers of the world – unite” and play a jingle version of The Red Flag.
A Labour spokesperson said that the party “couldn’t say right now” whether it would repeat Labour Live in the future. “We thought it worth trying as Glastonbury isn’t on this year. We’ll see how it goes.”