Every summer, the grass of Finsbury Park disappears under stages, bars and tens of thousands of people for some of the biggest open-air concerts in London. Festivals and headline shows bring crowds from all over the country, and when the last song ends, they all head for one station at the same time. Minibus hire Finsbury Park customers book is often about those nights, with match days at the nearby Emirates, nights out on Stroud Green Road, school trips and airport runs the rest of the year.
The park itself sits in Haringey, and the area around the station spills across Islington, Hackney and Haringey, between Highbury, Stroud Green, Manor House and Holloway. From our base in SE1, it's about thirty-five to forty-five minutes outside the rush hour, up through Islington.
Minibus hire Finsbury Park for summer concerts
The park's summer events hold tens of thousands of people a day, with gates opening in the early afternoon and the headline act finishing around ten or half past ten. Groups of friends, birthday parties and fans travelling from outside London book us to get there together and home afterwards.
On event days, roads around the park close or are restricted, parking is suspended across a wide area, and the station runs on crowd control, sometimes with entry closed for a while after the show. We'll check the event's traffic plan and drop at a point outside the closures, then agree a meeting point for the return, away from the main exits and the station. Tell us the gate on your tickets and we'll choose the nearest drop. Many shows allow under-16s with an adult, so family groups come too, and a minibus with a parent on board suits teenagers going to their first big gig.
After the show
When the music stops, the crowds take a long time to clear, and the walk to the meeting point will be slower than the walk in. The group should agree to meet at the minibus at a set time, rather than wait for each other inside the site. Phones often struggle with signal in a crowd that size, so decide on the meeting point before you go in. The station sometimes closes its entrances for a while after the last act to manage the crowds, which is one more reason to arrange a vehicle.
If your group is heading home in different directions, give us the addresses in advance and we'll plan the drop-offs. Minibus hire Finsbury Park groups book for a festival day is easiest with a pickup time half an hour after the last act.
Match days and the Emirates
The Emirates Stadium is a ten-minute walk from Finsbury Park station, and on Arsenal match days the streets between them fill with supporters. The match-day road closure zone reaches the edge of Finsbury Park. If your booking falls on a match day, tell us the date and we'll plan around it. Our Holloway page covers match-day drops for supporters.
The park, the climbing centre and school trips
Finsbury Park has an athletics track, tennis courts, a boating lake, a playground and an outdoor gym, and it hosts school sports days and club training. The cafés by the lake and the playground make it a good place for a nursery or primary outing in summer. The Castle Climbing Centre, in a Victorian water pumping station a short drive away on Green Lanes, is a popular trip for school and youth groups, and Woodberry Wetlands, a nature reserve on an old reservoir, suits science trips.
For school groups, the driver drops at the gate and collects at the time the teacher gives.
Stroud Green Road and nights out
Stroud Green Road and Blackstock Road have restaurants, bars and pubs, and the area has plenty of places for a birthday dinner or a night out. The Twelve Pins and the old pubs around the station are favourites before and after events. Crouch End, up the hill, has more restaurants and a busy Broadway, and groups often combine the two.
For a night out, the driver collects from homes or a meeting point and drops everyone back at the end, across Finsbury Park, Stroud Green, Highbury and Crouch End.
The Seven Sisters Road and the station
The Seven Sisters Road runs past the park and the station, and it's one of the busiest roads in north London, with bus lanes, a large bus station and heavy traffic most of the day. Stopping near the station is very limited. On event days and match days, it's much slower still. Pickups use a side street instead. Stansted is about forty-five minutes to an hour from here outside the rush hour, Luton about fifty minutes and Heathrow about an hour.
For minibus hire in Finsbury Park, call 020 7183 0567.