As a Finsbury Park local, the annual gathering that is Wireless Festival always brings a lot of attention. Whether it be hearing snippets of manic crowds or just not being able to get on the tube, it really becomes an event for the whole postcode. This year’s SZA, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B headlined event proved to be no different; with surprise appearances, ticketless intruders and inevitable late comers onstage.
That’s a wrap on 2022, magical weekend #GopuffxWireless pic.twitter.com/wvYHH4PctL
— Wireless Festival (@WirelessFest) July 11, 2022
While I’m definitely not an event organiser, I imagine that – while you may try your best to account for everything – sometimes… things are out of your control. The weather for example, and thus how punters end up reacting to it. The UK are currently dead centre of a pretty significant heatwave, 30+C degree temperatures and give or take 50,000 people in the same place will always bring problems. On Sunday afternoon, the police were called to control crowds after many were reported to jump the park’s fences in order to avoid being trampled. It’s unknown as to whether those that jumped the fence had tickets… but it just makes sense. The Met issued a statement consoling fans by saying ‘As a result of this, security staff put in place a brief hold on people being admitted to the event to ensure the safe flow of people into the site. This caused a large crowd to form in the area around the site.’.
This wasn’t the only bad news, many artists like Burna Boy, Lil Durk, JI and Ruger all announced on very short notice that they wouldn’t be arriving. This, in conjunction with the 40-minute late start of headliner Nicki Minaj left a bit of a bad taste in many fans’ mouths after what was a particularly successful festival in the first 2 days.
Now, that’s all the bad news out of the way. The rest of the girlpower-centric festival was primarily considered to be a massive success. Day 1 headliner Cardi B highlighted the power couple dynamic by bringing out Offset for a brief Migos interlude: “Bad and Boujee”, “Coult”, and “Ric Flair Drip” all made an appearance – then it just seems right for Megan Thee Stallion to also arrive for the bombshell of a track that is ‘WAP’. Visibly Pregnant Summer Walker owned her time in the spotlight and even brought out Bree Runway for “Hot Hot”, and SZA proved she had what it takes to headline a festival with a seamless slot.
All in all, festivals will always come with their negatives. This one is very much proof that the circuit is back into full swing after a few years of doubt.
