Arts & Culture  News

That was Happy Streets Festival 2021!

Impact Dance in St George’s playground_1200px

Published on
July 20, 2021

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A great day was had by all during the Happy Streets Festival that took place on Saturday 10 July.

Families, schoolchildren, and artists filled the streets of Nine Elms for an afternoon of music, dance, colour and fun.

At the ROSE Community Clubroom, delicious pizza making by Pizza Midwife was a hit, as was the upcycling clothes workshops by Tilayo with participants making beautiful designs on canvas bags.

Over in Griffin Primary Playground, circus performances by Upswing impressed audiences with their aerial tricks whilst in in the Forest School, the little ones explored their surroundings and were filled with excitement!

Although the forecast looked like rain on the day, Happy Streets brought the sunshine, perfect for the Cloudscapes experience from Gobbledegook Theatre. The vibe was relaxed and brought the festival feel to Carey Gardens Green.

At St George’s Church, refreshments and stunningly lit artworks by Alex Muen were on display and admired by many. On Thessaly Road at Powerleague, Nine Elms children enjoyed an afternoon of kicking about on football pitch 3.

Happy Streets: Happiness Garden. Photo credit: Robert Piwko

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On the main stage at St George’s Primary, World Heart Beat’s band kicked off the proceedings with beautiful music and Just More Productions’ ‘Do What Yah Mother Told Yah’ performances ignited imaginations with stories around food.

Nine Elms Arts Ministry art workshops were jam-packed with children and parents alike creating mindful masterpieces of sea fan tiles and bowls of hope, attracting a queue all day. While topical chat was enjoyed by local residents at The People Speak’s Talkaoke tent.

Later on, Impact Dance dazzled with an amazing dance performance and BAC Beatbox Academy brought the house down with their beats and audience participation ending the festival on a high.

A huge thank you to everyone who came out to Happy Streets festival and a big shout out to all of the amazing artists who entertained throughout the day and all of the venues that hosted Happy Streets.

If you can spare five minutes, tell us what you thought about the day so we can improve our Nine Elms events programme by filling in this survey.

Happy Streets festival benefited from the PPL PRS Charity and Community Discount Scheme.

Volunteers cleaning up

In the run-up to the festival, the vital help of the local community made Happy Streets bright and colourful through the Nine Elms Community Clean-Up Day. On Friday 9 July, local residents and volunteers from Battersea Power Station, Vinci St Modwen, Covent Garden Market Association, Mace Group, Clipline, and Wandsworth Council came out to help pick up litter, sweep public spaces and tended to the gardens in the local area by planting a variety of colourful flowers and plants.

Volunteers prepare to do some planting in Carey Gardens

Breakfast for the hungry volunteers, and funds towards the colourful plants that now adorn the ROSE Community Clubroom and surrounding areas, was kindly donated by New Covent Garden Market.

Wandsworth Council street cleaning team were out and about ahead of the festival to make the area sparkle

Find out more about the MyWandsworth campaign to keep the brighter borough clean and tidy.


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