Community and Kids

Springfield Summer Festival 22nd August 2010

The first ever Springfield Summer Festival was a stunning success.  A day of ‘home grown talent, food and tunes from the heart of Hackney’...  

A refreshingly open minded and innovative exploration of healthy living provided an unusual selection of entertainment and some very welcome treats. Walking around the festival, there was a different surprise waiting around every corner...

A massage tent offered a calm oasis for weary festival goers to take time out and get a full body massage for free... All day cookery demonstrations with chefs from Jamie Oliver's  kitchen, Fifteen put on a brilliant show, transporting the audience to ‘Ready Steady Cook’ with outstanding presentation and delighting people with an endless supply healthy tasters... A bicycle powered sound system enabled people to get involved in creating the sounds of the festival... and perhaps the most surprising was what seemed to be a travelling dentist - a truck providing free dental care for locals.

On top of this, a variety of local talent on the main stage line-up made sure there was music for everyone... whether you preferred to get a spot at the front or sit back in the cafe’s garden and watch it from there with a cuppa. Starting with various r'n'b acts, and progressing on to Spoken Word, Hip Hop and Folk. The acts, chosen by ‘Hackney’s Got Talent’, showed off their skill to be judged by the Springfield Festival audience in a hunt for Hackney’s finest. The last band to play was my favourite, with female vocals, accoustic guitar and a loop machine, creating fantasitcally floaty folky sounds.

Family friendly activities including a play area for children, hula-hoops, circus tricks and an impressive climbing wall created a lovely atmosphere, keeping children happily entertained whilst parents could enjoy listening to eclectic sounds drifting over from the main stage.

The day utterly exceeded my expectations and was really fun. Wonderfully selected by the organisers, the varied entertainment and practical support provided for local residents created a special day with a purpose.

Lollibop

Rev1ewed by  Lucy Naylor

Clissold Park 17th and 18th July 2010

Last weekend an ordinary corner of Clissold Park was transformed into a dreamy paradise where trees were dressed in crepe paper,and there were good-humoured egg and spoon races.  And everyone was bizarrely friendly. A visit to Wonderland.
There were background murmurings about the price: £42 per family of four - but this proved good value in the end. My kids had a great time and wanted to go back for more (maybe they could price it in for the second visit to cost just an extra tenner).
Highlights included big-haired wind-up ballerinas on stilts, plentiful glitter and paint, beer and disco, a cuddly giraffe, funky gibbon, terrifying robot horse, toddler-friendly soft play, sandpits and sausages.
Lollibop was a breath of fresh air.  Was it also a smugfest of middle-class parents? Probably, but if you can’t beat them, join them.  

Stoke Newington Literary Festival

Reviewed by Jenny Rowsome, Charlie Clarke and Flora Neve

A buzz circulated around Stoke Newington last weekend. People came and filled various venues and the literary history of this proud area was celebrated and cherished.

The belated inauguration of the First Stoke Newington Literary Festival was an undoubted success. Hey-On-Weigh watch out!

Between heavy weights of social critique was a wealth of talent from all backgrounds, each sitting down cordially to recite and spread their respective words…

The festivities began with philosopher A.C. Grayling’s invigorating recollection of Newington Green and Stoky’s dynamic history of rebellion.  A perfect end saw Tony Benn’s charming account of his dignified and honest relationship to a political system that sadly lacks others as honourable as him.

Richard Reynolds, guerrilla gardening pioneer, gave an inspiring talk to green fingered fans on his blossoming project to turn London’s streets into oases of colour and life.

There was a lot of excitement around the feminist debate, chaired by Diane Abbott, which drew in a big crowd. Women of all ages seemed pleased at a chance to speak out and be heard. The question ‘What would Mary Wollstonecraft think of our progress now?’ was put to the speakers and the Town Hall was soon alive with talk of what it means to be a feminist today.

Highly praised authors Monique Roffey and Amanda Smyth were at The Three Crowns discussing their recent novels. Two ambitious works of fiction showing two different female perspectives of 1950s Trinidad. The readings gave intriguing insight into life in Trinidad and posed serious questions relating to colonialism and the West’s relationship with ex-colonies now.

And Newington Green performance poet John Hegley lit up the Town Hall with ‘The Adventures of Monsieur Robinet’. The animal alphabet got the audience singing along in rounds to tales of Armadillos and Octopi, with occasional fits of laughter interrupting harmonies - musical comedy at its best.

All these literary treats and talent coupled with bright skies made for a truly wonderful weekend.

Guerrilla Gardening with Richard Reynolds

Reviewed by Jenny Rowsome  5/6/10

Richard Reynolds is a charismatic man with a convincing message. He is known as the ‘original guerrilla gardener’, so to meet him as part of the Stoke Newington Literary Festival was an honour.

Guerrilla gardening tranforms urban landscapes by fulfilling people’s natural need for stimulating surroundings, bringing colour to our streets and overcoming inner-city neglect whilst promoting community pride. This is resistance at its most aesthetically pleasing, a form of floral graffiti if you will.

With such flowery delights as pansies, tulips and bluebells blossoming all around me, I have experienced the work of guerrilla gardeners and their green fingered genius first-hand; over the past year my road has been visually transformed.

Richard’s started with his flat in a 1960s tower block. Lacking even a window box in which to grow flowers, he embarked upon a personal mission to transform the state of his estate.

He has provided his locality with an oasis of colour, warmly received by neighbours intrigued by his innovative and somewhat unorthodox approach to horticulture; “carrying a trowel and a box of flowers is a great conversation starter!”

The talk ends with news of a new mission, ‘Pimp Your Pavement’, designed to encourage people to start their own guerrilla gardening projects.

Richard calls on London Councils and TFL to “stop treating our pavements as highways” and alerts his enraptured audience to a piece of land lying outside Stoke Newington Town Hall that could do with a bit of pimping – a project I would love to take on myself with some local stoky friends!  Anyone else interested? Please contact Jenny at

Stoke Newington Literary Festival 4th-6th June 2010. Interview with Liz Vater by Jenny Rowsome

With Stoke Newington’s first ever Literary Festival kicking off this Friday, I met Liz Vater, the organiser of the event, for a cappuccino and a chat at Lemon Monkey.  Having been to other literary events, and aware of its unique literary history,  Liz became inspired to organise a “radical thinking, left wing” celebration of literature in Stoke Newington where she has lived for 22 years. Enthusiastic responses from friends played a big part in encouraging her to make this idea a reality and before she knew it she seemed to be organising a festival.

It has been a roller-coaster of emotions, from Tony Benn agreeing to take part, to the stresses of diary clashes, double bookings, and world cup collisions.But as Liz affirms, “there is always a plan B” and exciting moments outshine tense ones. Her positive attitude towards potential hiccups has been seemingly crucial in her success so far; it is clear Liz has thoroughly enjoyed the experience and is eagerly anticipating the outcome.

An important aspect of the festival for Liz is its inclusiveness. Low ticket prices and leafleting have been part of an effort to make it truly accessible. With authors from a variety of genres and cultures, there is something for everyone: performance poets Phill Jupitus, John Hegley and Laura Dockrill; Irish poet Roddy Lumsden with the best of British/Irish poetry; acclaimed philosopher AC Grayling; local MP Diane Abbott and Louise Welsh, author of cult novel 'The Cutting Room' to name but a few.For the not so literary minded: cookery workshops, guerrilla gardening, and world cup predictions offer an alternative.

Next year, Liz hopes to make the festival more interactive by exploring ways of involving local schools to get young people interested.

Suprisingly, the festival has received little funding and has mostly been financed through ticket sales and local support. Hopefully this years undoubtable success will be the foundation for Liz's impressive determination to make this an annual event.

http;//www.stokenewingtonliteraryfestival.com