The Thamesmead Festival is a major arts and music festival, programmed by a group of Bexley residents, and produced in collaboration with Serious.
Thamesmead Festival 2021. Photo: Rosie Reed Gold
Eleven local residents came together to form a Festival Production Group, which was supported by Three Rivers and Serious to make all decisions about the festival; from programming the stages, commissioning artworks, and even developing the festival brand with local artist and illustrator Keith Hau.
This year's festival focused on showcasing Thamesmead’s rich and diverse creative talent, and all of the acts, stalls and artworks were either from Thamesmead or had a close connection to the area.
Set amongst the grassy banks of Southmere Lake, with grazing ponies to one side and the iconic Thamesmead towers on the other, the festival featured three music stages, including Breis, Jules and Thamesmead Community Gospel Choir; a family and kids area; food and craft stalls; the ‘Carnival of Colours’; the famous Thamesmead dog show; and much more.
To view the full festival programme click here
The Thamesmead Festival Production Group are Joanne Bernard, Nathalie Coste, Deborah Frimpong, Carolyn Long, Whitney Manassai, Pastor Bunmi Omidiran, Ann Poole, Ian Tyson, Kim Vale, Jamie Zubairi and Jules.
Serious are producers of outstanding live cultural experiences, including festivals, concerts, tours, creative engagement projects and talent development schemes. Their flagship project is the EFG London Jazz Festival.
The Thamesmead Festival 2021 was funded by Peabody Trust and co-commissioned by Three Rivers.