Concerns over noise, litter, nuisance, parking or anti-social behaviour, telephone 020 3278 0077                        

For non-urgent enquiries please email community@percolatemusic.co.uk 

The phone line is manned during the following hours.

Set‑up days 

When crews put the event together:

• Monday 11 May to Thursday 21 May: 9am to 6pm

Festival days

When the festival is on:

• Friday 22 May, 2:30pm to 11:30pm
• Saturday 23 May, 11am to 11:30pm
• Sunday 24 May, 11am to 11pm

Reset days 

When the team prepares for the next weekend:

• Monday 25 May to Friday 29 May, 9am to 6pm

Festival days

When the festival is on:

• Saturday 30 May, 11am to 11:30pm
• Sunday 31 May, 11am to 11pm

Clear‑up days

When crews remove event equipment, tidy the space and get the park back to its best:

• Monday 1 June to Saturday 6 June, 9am to 6pm

All of our traffic plans have been designed to assist with the smooth movement of people, and to prevent disruption to the surrounding area as much as practicable. We’ve added more staff and equipment outside the event to help things run smoothly and respond to feedback from local residents.

The majority of attendees will arrive via public transport, many using Barking Station. The station, however, will remain accessible for residents.

2026 Updates

To minimise people standing outside houses on Longbridge Road, the pedestrian crossing point and temporary traffic lights will be moved.

There will no longer be temporary traffic lights outside Barking Station. Instead, a team of Police-accredited traffic staff (CSAS) and stewards will be used to enable a dynamic approach if changes are required.

There will be more barriers and safety measures along Longbridge Road. MET Police barrier will be installed between the pavement and the road to support staff on the ground with the movement of attendees and road closures.

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Parking Suspensions & Enforcement

Parking will be suspended on the eastbound side of Longbridge Road opposite houses numbers 118-136 between 11am to 11:30pm.

The resident permit parking scheme in place on Longbridge Road will be extended to include all event days of the event to help maintain resident parking on the road. This uplift will run from 5.:0pm to 11:30pm. 

Signage, barriers and cones may be installed in areas where parking is suspended. Vehicles parked in the affected locations may be removed. Please refer to the signage that will be placed locally for details.

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Diversion Routes

The image below shows the diversion routes that will be in place during the festival days, between11am to 12am.

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Road closures

The following roads will be closed to non-residents during the festival days to prevent unauthorised parking and festival goers using it for taxi drop off and pick-up.

Cecil Avenue

Part of Cecil Avenue, between Cranleigh Gardens/Somerby Road and Longbridge Road, will be closed during busy times to help people move safely to and from the event. The road will reopen outside these times. Residents can still access this section via Cranleigh Gardens/Somerby Road.

Wilmington Gardens

The section of Wilmington Gardens between Rosslyn Road and Longbridge Road will be closed during the event days, between 11am to 12pm, to protect residents from taxi traffic.

Hurstbourne Gardens

Hurstbourne Gardens, between Levett Road and Longbridge Road, will be closed when people leave the event (8pm to 12am). A signed diversion will be in place via Hulse Avenue, Shirley Gardens and Levett Road to maintain access.

Barriers and traffic management will only be in place during these times and removed afterwards so roads can return to normal.

Traffic marshals will be at entry points to allow residents through. You may be asked to show this letter or proof of address to gain access.

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High Lights Festival is working with a Waste Management Company to clean the site during the event’s build, live and clear up phases.

• recycling bins and waste sorting will be undertaken during the event
• during the live events, there will be two litter picker teams: internal and external
• there will be an increase in the number of litter pickers for the 2026 events
• the external team will be responsible for walking routes from transport hubs (stations, bus stops, taxi pick-up and drop-off points) to the festival
• each live event will have overnight litter pickers for both internal and external to the festival
• stakeholders and residents may use the hotline during the live event if they notice any waste build-up caused by our audience

During the shows, music will be running between 2pm to 10:30pm Friday, 12pm to 10:30pm Saturday and 12pm to 10pm Sunday.

There is a dedicated Stage Management Team to ensure show end times are adhered to.

Sound tests will take place on Thursday 19 May at 6pm. 

2026 Changes

Since the 2025 event, High Lights have hosted many internal debrief meetings with contractors, local authorities, and residents. Based on the feedback and suggestions received, the following changes have been made and will be implemented for 2026.

• High Lights have teamed up with We Are OPS, who are very experienced in Community Engagement for London Festivals. Having a dedicated person who will focus solely on all the Community Engagement elements of the festival will ensure increased communication in advance, during, and post-festival
• enhance advanced communications with key stakeholders, including local schools, businesses, and community groups
• increase external Security presence inside and outside the event
• increased MET Police presence in the area during the live events
• increased the external litter picking personnel
• there will be a dedicated External Manager whose sole focus is to oversee the external infrastructure and staffing as per our event planning
• there will also be a number of toilets between Barking Park and Barking Station

High Lights understand the importance of building a strong relationship with the local community, residents, businesses, partners and stakeholders, High Lights have committed to the below initiatives.

CDR (Create, Define, Release)

High Lights Festival will continue their partnership with CDR (Create, Define, Release), a community-first music organisation working towards an equitable music industry for producers and artists. In 2025, we raised £8,000. With the funds CDR held weekly drop-ins at Heath Park Community Centre and successfully facilitated a week-long project to Make It Barking. This year’s plans with the donations given to CDR will do the following,

• summer 2026 - host a one-week summer project with LGBTQIA+ Flipslide Youth Group at the Vibe Youth Club
• fall 2026 - create a two-term programme and collaborate with the Guildhall School of Music at Eastbury Community School

CDR website

Creative Barking and Dagenham Art Grants

In 2025, High Lights paid £3,000 to Creative Barking and Dagenham Art Grants to fund projects in and around Barking and Dagenham for both young people and aspiring early-career artists during the 2025 High Lights event series in Barking Park. High Lights will do the same for this year’s events.

Company Drinks

Company Drinks is a community space and social enterprise located in Barking Park, where they make drinks. During the 2025 events, Company Drinks made over £1,000 per event. We will be teaming up with Company Drinks again this year, providing them with a free pitch inside the festival to promote their work and sell their drinks to our audience.

£15,000 donation to Barking Park

High Lights have committed to a £15,000 community donation to Barking Park. Local residents had the opportunity to vote on how this was spent. 

Free and discounted resident tickets 

A number of free tickets have been given to residents that live in the roads in close proximity to the park. Heavily discounted tickets have been given to residents in the surrounding areas.