Festival fun in the sun – Bankside Open Spaces Festival says ‘Ola!’ to the summer!

On 10 June, Bankside Open Spaces Trust hosted our 3rd Bankside Open Spaces Festival and were joined by thousands of community members, performers, stallholders and prize-winning pooches for our most buzzingly successful festival yet!

Latina Fiesta opens the show

The event started in style with a parade and performances from members of Elephant and Castle’s fantastic Latin American community. Newly appointed Mayor of Southwark Cllr Michael Situ received the parade alongside the Mexican Ambassador to Great Britain Josefa Gonzalez-Blanco and our Chair Tim Wood. The trio were then joined by Xiamara Zentner, community leader and fonder of Colombian dance group Yuruparí Grupo Folklórico, to officially open our festival.

Waggy tails at the Dog Show

The Little Dorrit Dog Show returned for a 7th year (having previously been part of our Great Get Together events) and welcomed a whole host of local dogs and their owners to be introduced to our wonderful judge BBC London’s Anna Webb. The Ambassador’s dog Tiny Dancer picked up a Top Dog – alongside 6 others who all went home with packed prize goody bags.

Musical highlights at Bankside Open Spaces Festival

Ese and the Vooduu People on the Main Stage

The Festival boasted four music stages this year. Over on the Main Stage, we loved Art Terry and the Black Bohemian’s funky lockdown tune and their vital climate message, Ese and the Vooduu People’s bass heavy set, and how our returning headliners the Cosimo Matassa Project, and The Brothers Ignatius got the crowd grooving as the sun went down. At Red Cross Garden spoken word and calmer tunes played out over lush greenery – Ragtop Down’s performance saw slow dances among the flowers. This year’s LCCM Stage saw local community performances from festival faves Borough Welsh Chapel Choir, The Nightingales and The Dragon Café Singers (we’re still singing about those Southwark Rebel Women!), newcomers The London Soul Choir lit up the street too. Across the afternoon talent from LCCM got people dancing in the street. Returning for a 2nd year was the Dance Stage, run by Alma Casa and EXT Radio, filling Redcross Way with good vibes, live music and bubbles!

Giving our talented community space to perform

Not to be forgotten is Marlborough Sports Garden’s Community Stage which hosted a range of choirs, musical performances and dancers this year. Festival goers took part in the action – jumping up for Irish dancing with Jig and a Swig, salsa with Salsatecta, tango with Tango Integral and a big old street dance inspired knees up with the talented young people of Superarts Academy. A musical highlight was Brixton Orchestra who processed up Union Street and lit up the stage.

Also lighting up the streets were festival favourites UDM Samba, who continued the Latin American theme and brought colour and joy to the afternoon.

Celebrating outdoor activities

The festival wasn’t just about music and performances though – it covered all the wonderful things you can get up to in our urban open spaces and so sport was high on the agenda. To kick things off we welcomed local walking footballers to play an exhibition game raising awareness for an initiative called Kicking Cancer – a walking football group for those living with the disease. Then coaches from Regans Soccer and Wall Ball UK, fitness experts The Fitting Rooms and local climbing facility The Font engaged festival goers of all ages in active fun throughout the afternoon.

Of course, gardening featured at BOSFest - we gave away hundreds of plants at or BIG Plant Giveaway thanks to our friends at Rochfords Gardens. We also welcomed local organisation Wilder to share tips on greening a small space.

Calmer moments and surprising additions!

Among all this activity, quieter moments were to be found with yoga and massage, walking tours and poetry too. Crossbones Graveyard, always a sanctuary, hosed an exhibition focused on Mexican roadside shrines and garden tours led by experts Jennifer Cooper and Dr Lucy Coleman-Talbot.

And we haven’t even mentioned the donkeys – in-between resting in the shade, four visiting donkeys gave short rides all afternoon, a fun addition to our jam-packed festival!

Over the course of the afternoon, an estimated 20,000 people enjoyed Bankside Open Spaces Festival – we’d like to thank everyone who came and made the day so special. See you next year!

Thank you to our festival funders National Lottery Community Fund, Better Bankside, Southwark Council and United St Saviour’s Charity. Thanks also to our sponsors: Aviva, Berkeley Homes, Fabrix, Hines, Great Portland Estates, Greystar, Landsec, Mount Anvil, Sellar and Snowfield Quarter. For more about how Bankside Open Spaces Trust works with developers, please see our About us page.

Thanks also to Erith, Travis Perkins Redcross Way, Soliman Travel and Rochfords for your logistical support.