events over four days from 29 July .
Among this year ’ s other major events at QEOP is the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup in November , at the Copper Box arena , while the London Aquatics Centre has already hosted the SuperLeague Triathlon .
Fresh from showing an event promoter around QEOP , LLDC ’ s director of park operations and venues Peter Tudor says it is great to see the park so busy and continuing to evolve a decade after the London Olympics .
“ We ’ re not standing still , there ’ s plenty of new things coming ,” he says . “ We ’ ve got all sorts of other events we ’ re working on that we aren ’ t quite yet able to announce , but there will be a massive celebration to mark the anniversary that is very much focused on the community that lives in and around the park because it is not just an events destination – it is a place where people live now as well .”
Tudor works closely with LLDC head of events Sara-Ellen Williams , who was involved in the staging of the Olympics and has worked at the park ever since . “ It has been a great opportunity and really interesting being here for 10 years and seeing the park evolve ,” she says . “ Ten years ago we knew we were doing a brilliant Olympics and now you can see this vibrant legacy venue that is like no other on the planet . More and more businesses and residents are coming on board and it ’ s continuing to evolve .
“ Some of the things we ’ ve done here have been rather wonderful . When Arcadia came here in 2018 that was extraordinary , but we also do a lot of the small events such as charity runs and community shows ; all of which are important .”
Williams works in a team of five event managers , with delivery partners brought in to work on specific projects when needed . In the case of the Great Get Together festival this year it will be Continental Drifts .
Pandemic recovery It is a small team and with so much planned , Williams says the pace of work this year is a sharp contrast to the lengthy period when the pandemic prevented all but a sprinkling of events : “ It ’ s extraordinary to come out of the two-year pandemic period straight into one of the busiest years for events since 2012 . It feels like we are at top speed , but basically it means we must be even more diligent and careful and make sure we do everything absolutely right .”
While some events were able to take place at the park during the pandemic , ranging from drivein shows with social distancing to football matches and elite swimming events without spectators , clearly it had a huge impact .
Williams says she is extremely proud of the work that was undertaken to ensure the park continued to remain open during the pandemic : “ Before I came here I was a freelancer and so helping to bring back events during the pandemic was really important to me because it was so hard to see so many special people so severely impacted by it and so many leave the industry .
“ We worked very closely with Newham Council to bring back our small runs , and of course we did a drive-in cinema . For me that was really important because we were able to do safe events and work with small promoters , which led to activities for people , but more importantly jobs for people in this industry . That is one of the biggest things I ’ ve achieved here .”
Williams says Newham Council was one of the first boroughs to create Covid-safe event guidelines , which was shared via the LLDC
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