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2012 park to host music festivals
Evening Standard3 Oct 2008
London 2012 chiefs are planning to stage a series of Glastonbury-style openair festivals to breathe life in to the Olympic Park after the Games.
Planners from the London Development Agency will enter into talks with music and arts promoters later this year.
They aim to secure an entertainment licence for the main stadium and use temporary venues such as the basketball arena to host arts exhibitions. The LDA wants to prevent the 600-acre site becoming a ghost town in the two to four years it will take to convert venues for general sports use and build apartments.
Gareth Blacker, the LDA's director of Olympic development, said: "That transition phase will make or break this place."
Speaking at the Games Briefing construction industry conference, he said the park had excellent transport links.
Ownership for 30-40 years will pass to a "special purpose vehicle" answerable to City Hall and the Government.
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent, on Twitter
