2026 Community Festival
On 12th September, our doors opened to welcome the community in for an afternoon of celebration, creativity, and connection for our 2026 Community Festival.
Six women stand smiling on sports pitches. Behind them are colourful bunting and a gazebo.
This festival celebrated 10 years of community impact and a decade in our building at 67 Plender Street.
We’ve had ups and downs through the years, and this past year was particularly challenging given the flood in January and subsequent closure of the ground floor. Nevertheless, we have continued to support each other and find opportunities to come together until we reopened our doors in July. We are so grateful to be able to reflect on this special occasion in the newly renovated building!
Mayor visited and unveiled our Community Mosaic
Two woman stand speaking with a young person and a child.
The women walk and talk across sports pitches.
The festival was buzzing with community members coming together to support activities and celebrate. At 12:00 PM, the Mayor of Camden, Councillor Leman, joined us at the centre to meet and greet before unveiling the community mosaic!
Four people stand in front of a fabric mosaic on a pink wall.
SPCA Office Manager Sophia and Marketing Lead Sasha came up with the idea for the mosaic as an activity for the Camley Street Festival. Volunteers from QBE helped cut fabric squares, which families visiting our stall decorated with drawings and additional fabrics to create images of their favourite places in Camden.
We asked art teacher Didi to lead another session with her Golden Years class and Community Kitchen coordinator Diana to lead sessions with the families that attend on Thursday evenings.
All of the squares were stitched together by the lovely team at Cleaners and Coffee, and framed in black ribbon by Sophia.
The Mayor unveiled the finished mosaic and spoke warmly about the creativity, dedication and community spirit that helped bring the project to life.
A mosaic of fabric squares on a pink wall hanging from a bamboo stick.
Bric-a-brac stall and face painting
In the café underneath the mosaic, we set up a bric-a-brac stall filled with knickknacks donated by Amanda, who oversaw the table along with Golden Years member Effie.
Two older women sit against a wall behind a table full of books and household items. Another woman stands in front of the table.
Household items on a table with a postcard sign reading ‘£1 each, £2 for 3 items’.
Throughout the day, Amanda and Effie raised over £70 to donate to SPCA!
We also had a face painting stall led by Jay, who painted beautiful images on children and adults for all to enjoy.
Two standing signs on the a table advertising face painting and the face painter.
A woman closes her eyes while pink flowers are painted on her face.
Activities on the pitches
After enjoying the excitement of the Mayor’s visit, perusing the lovely bric-a-brac, and getting a beautiful face painting, visitors moved towards the pitches for drinks, snacks, and activities. Children played with hula hoops, decorated fabric squares for a new community mosaic and learned how to reimagine a t-shirt with Amaya.
A young child ties a knot of strands of fabric hanging from the bottom of a t-shirt.
The team from Chronically Marvellous also set up a wonderful mindfulness table where visitors could sit and slow down, participating in meditative activities and colouring. Visitors could also enjoy a slushie and learn more about the organisation's mobility equipment.
A group of people and children sit and stand around tables on sport pitches. There is a standing banner for the organisation Chronically Marvellous. There are gates with bunting behind them.
We also had the crew from Less Wages come in to prepare their delicious BBQ chicken with salad, rice and peas, plus a stall selling children toys.
Two plastic tubs filled with rice, barbeque chicken and sauce rest on a flowery beige tablecloth. There are two skewers, tongs, and a wooden cutting board.
Time for performances
Once the festival was in full swing, the performers took centre stage! Hosted by comedian Rabiah Coon and singer Milli-Rose, the afternoon's performances brought a collection of talented singers, poets, and dancers.
First, Layla shared spoken word poetry developed in part at Crossword Lyric, a Camden-based poetry and music platform. These personal pieces resonated across the audience.
A woman stands in front of a microphone reading off of her phone. She is under a white gazebo/ There is a barbeque and food stall farther back.
Our Golden Years singers then took the stage, led by volunteer extraordinaire Kate. She guided the singers through six of their favourite tunes, including You’ve Got a Friend, Country Roads, and Lean on Me. The crowd was singing along to this impassioned performance!
A group of older people sit in chairs singing while holding sheet music.
Two older men stand under a gazebo decorated with paper flowers, singing from sheet music.
A group of older people sit and stand under a gazebo decorated with paper flowers and fronds. They sing off, looking at sheets of music.
A woman stands in front of the microphones holding sheet music and conducting the singers.
We also enjoyed a powerful spoken word performance from Awa, host of the podcast Diaspora Diaries, who shared moving reflections on her experience in the Caribbean diaspora.
A woman stands in front of the gazebo decorated with paper flowers and speaks into a microphone.
Milli-Rose then switched from hosting duties to performing her gorgeous original songs. She gave an interactive performance and even brought on special guest star, Bella.
A woman sings into a microphone in front of a gazebo decorated with colourful flowers.
A young girl holds a microphone and smiles.
A woman and young girl stand in front of a gazebo decorated with colourful flowers. The girl sings into the microphone, and the woman smiles and dances with her microphone.
Finally, we had Zubaidah, our fabulous belly dance instructor, close out performances with a lovely dance that got audience members on their feet.
A woman performs belly dance with her arms undulating at her sides in front of a gazebo with flowers and a gate with colourful bunting.
Two women dance towards each other smiling with their arms outstretched in front of a gazebo decorated with colourful flowers and an amplifier.
Wrapping up the day
By 4:00pm, as the festival drew to a close, there was just enough time for a last bite, drink, and plenty of warm goodbyes.
A woman stands facing the performers waving her hands in the air.
Thank you to everyone who came along, performed, sang, danced, and shared in the spirit of the day. This festival is, at its heart, a celebration of our community, and it was wonderful to see so many people there enjoying and helping to make the event such a success. It would not have been possible without the help of so many individuals who came together to uplift their community.
We’d also like to extend a warm thank you to the team behind the Camden Community Festival Grant for the generous support they offered to contribute to this event.
We can’t wait to see you at the next one!
