Rock the Park organizers ask for one more day ahead of 20th anniversary

Ahead of its 20th year of bringing music to downtown London, organizers of Rock the Park are asking for city council's permission to extend this year's event from four consecutive days to five.

In a letter written tocity council's Community and Protective Services Committee,Jones Entertainment Group (JEG) is requestingcouncil's approval for an extra day to be tacked on to the beginning of the festival's usual run.

Approval of that request would see the festival run from Tuesday, July9, through to Saturday, July13, for fivedays.

Normally, the longstanding festival would begin on Wednesday, and run over the course of four days,to Saturday.

"JEGhas an incredible opportunity to host one of the best music festivals ever heldin London, especially now that London has been deemed 'The Music City,'" the letter reads. "However, to make this possible we need to operate Rock the Park ... 5 consecutive days."

Rock the Park, which this year is set to bring acts like Nickelback, Tyler Childers, NE-YO, and Neil Young & Crazy Horse to London, is known for filling Harris park with music and is no stranger to requesting extra days to run. In 2015,2017 and 2022 similar requests were accepted by City Hall.

"We have the opportunity to present some country music on July 9th for 10,000 fans...The economic impact for the local economy and London will increase," organizers wrote in the letter,in defence of the proposal.

The letter also pointed to the four charities involved in this year's planned event, and the potential additional fundraising they would be able to gather from a fifth day of the festival. Those charities include the Children's Health Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of London & Area, Make-a-Wish Foundation Southwestern Ontario, and Anita May Mental Health and Music Program.

Currently the City of London's special events policies and procedures manual states that events in Harris Park must be limited to four consecutive days in length.

Councillors will discuss the request and make a preliminary decision on Monday.

Representatives of Jones Entertainment Group were not available for comment at the time of publishing.