Victorious Festival owners fund Southsea Common renovation work

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people enjoy the seafront setting for a vast array of events, including Armed Forces Day and the International Kite Festival. Following that, annual work is done to ensure the space remains in tip-top condition for everyone to use.

The work is being done by Portsmouth City Council and funded by the organisers of Victorious Festival, the biggest event of the year, which saw more than 170,000 people enjoying music from its headline acts and plenty of family fun on the common at the end of last month.

Heavy rain at the end of the festival weekend led to some damage to the grass on the common as vehicles left the site. This is now being evened out and grass resewn by the council.

Councillor Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council with responsibility for culture and leisure, said: "Southsea Common is an amazing place to bring people together.

"Over the summer, we've seen thousands of people coming to enjoy all sorts of events and activities, including a fantastically successful Victorious Festival.

"We're doing some work to make sure that after a busy summer, the ground and grass on the common is in good condition for people to enjoy over the coming months. I'd like to thank Victorious Festival for funding this work.

"We're looking forward to welcoming people back to a packed summer events programme next year."

James Ralls, Victorious Festival Director, said: "Thank you to everyone who supported this year's festival; it was an amazing weekend celebrating music, creativity and this amazing city.

"Southsea Common is such a special venue and home for Victorious.

"As part of the local community, it's really important to us that we return the site to the people of Portsmouth in good condition.

"A huge clean-up operation ensures we remove rubbish, recycle as much as possible and reduce waste.

"This year, we're very proud of a new partnership with Portsmouth Foodbank Network, which has enabled the festival to redistribute approximately two tonnes of food to people in the community, diverting it from landfill.

"Making sure the common itself is back to its usual good state is part of the clean-up process, and we're delighted to support the council with this work.

"We look forward to continuing to support the local area throughout the year with our Victorious in the Community projects."