Crowd control concerns led to the early closure of one of the main stages at the Parklife festival on its final day, prompting the cancellation of two anticipated DJ performances. The Matinee stage at Manchester’s Heaton Park was closed on Sunday evening, 15 June, after organisers acted on safety advice from their event team.
Attendees were instructed to leave the area as the show was paused. Later in the evening, festival organisers confirmed that the stage would remain shut for the rest of the night.
Josh Baker and Chris Stussy unable to perform
Local DJ Josh Baker and Danish artist Chris Stussy were both scheduled to perform at the Matinee stage. Baker, who was due to play from 6.30pm to 8pm, shared a message on Instagram, saying: “Unfortunately, I will not be performing at Parklife due to reasons outside of my control. I deeply apologise. I can't really put into words what today was going to mean for me.”
Chris Stussy had been due to headline the stage with a three-hour set from 8pm to 11pm. He also addressed the cancellation on Instagram, saying he was “really gutted” and emphasised that “safety comes first,” noting the stage was shut due to overcrowding.
Festival issues official statement
An in-app message from the Parklife festival initially alerted attendees that the Matinee stage show had been paused, with further updates to follow. A full statement later explained the rationale behind the decision.
Festival organisers confirmed that the stage would remain shut for the rest of the night.Manchester News
“As a result of crowd movement at the Matinee Stage and on the advice of our safety team to remove the risk of any potential incidents, Parklife made the decision to close the stage for the remainder of the final day of the festival,” said a spokesperson.
Safety prioritised over rescheduling
Organisers added that it was not feasible to move the affected performances to another venue within the festival grounds. “Unfortunately it has been impossible to relocate Josh Baker’s and Chris Stussy’s performances to a new stage,” the statement said. “The safety of our festival attendees is always our utmost priority.”
Despite the disruption at the Matinee stage, the rest of the Parklife festival continued as scheduled, and no injuries were reported in connection with the incident.
