The Blackheath fireworks display could become a two-day event in future if Lewisham councillors grant a new licence next week.
Last year’s display was the first since 2019 and the first to charge an admission fee after being taken over by the company behind the display at Alexandra Park in north London.
While Slammin’ Events plans a one-day event this year, on November 7, it is applying for a licence to hold a two-day event between the last week of October and the second week of November each year, either on Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday.
The display already has a licence for 30,000 people to attend, the new application is for a 40,000-capacity event facing Talbot Place and cutting off the pedestrian and cycle route to Greenwich Park.
Lewisham Council has received 17 objections, including from residents complaining about the heath being fenced off in a “markedly different” event to the council-run displays of the past and raising concerns about how crowds were managed last year.
One resident said the heath had still not recovered from last year’s event. “Large areas remain in a very sorry, bare state,” they said. “Failure to remediate properly and in good time has also resulted in the initial damage from the event being further compounded.”
There have been fireworks displays on the heath since the late 1980s, when Lewisham and Greenwich councils joined forces to host a free event. Greenwich pulled out in 2010 and Lewisham soldiered on alone, but the last free event was held before the pandemic.
In July, Lewisham’s cabinet member for culture, Rotimi Skyers, said it was unlikely that a free event would return.
A Lewisham licensing sub-committee will discuss the application on September 8.
The same committee will also review the licence for the Morley’s chicken shop on Lewisham High Street after a complaint from Home Office immigration enforcement officers, which said they found people illegally working there.
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