Enfield Town Centre Action Plan

We are very happy to announce that Create Enfield has been awarded a grant from Arts Council England, towards the delivery of ‘Curate Enfield’ – a new project which will generate 5 new pieces of public art for Enfield, one for each town centre (Angel Edmonton, Edmonton Green, Enfield Town, Palmers Green and Southgate), and be led by local people. We are seeking a young public art champion aged 18-25, who is interested in conceiving and shaping new public art for Enfield Town Centre. Free training and mentoring will be provided, in addition to a small honorarium and the chance to lead an exciting public art project which will have a lasting impact. The programme will commence this September 2022. If you are interested in becoming a public art champion or know a young person who could be, please contact Create Enfield Manager: clare.moloney@enfield.gov.uk for further information.

The deadline to apply is 31^st August 2022

A Month of Sundays, Enfield’s hugely popular summer festivals of music, performance, entertainment and street food, has returned this year to five locations around the borough!

A Month of Sundays kicked off in Enfield Town on Sunday 31 July and is expected to have attracted thousands of people.

Last year, the five free street festivals and two fringe events welcomed 47,100 attendees, 50 local businesses who sold food and drink and 123 performers who entertained the crowds with music, dance, spoken word and more.

These family-friendly events take place 12pm to 6pm and are free to attend. Look out for Enfield favourites Sissy Lea, Janet Kay, Chickenshed Theatre, Platinum street dancers and a wealth of talent including performances from DJ Bradshaw, TikTokers @TheLewisSisters and Victor Romero Evans. More acts will be announced on the website and on social media #AMonthofSundays

This year’s dates are:

• Sunday 31 July Church Street, Enfield Town, including a Pride in Enfield event on Market Square
• Sunday 7 August, Snells Park, Angel Edmonton
• Sunday 14 August, Edmonton Green Shopping Centre
• Sunday 28 August, Ashfield Parade, Southgate
• Sunday 11 September, Green Lanes, Palmers Green

A programme of free music, performance and spoken word is taking place in Enfield Town throughout the summer with the launch of Enfield Live.

Launched on 9 June, Enfield Council is providing free entertainment to the heart of Enfield to showcase the wide range of artists the borough has to offer and to support local businesses by helping to increase visitor numbers.

Performers scheduled to appear on the custom-made stage include local legend Janet Kay, award-winning performance poets Write2Speak, RnB singer Chris Andrews, performers from Platinum Arts and Chickenshed Theatre and much more.

Enfield Live runs from 12pm to 3pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 30 July 2022 and an extra bonus performance on Sunday 31 July. The stage is erected on Fountain Island, the pedestrianised area which sits between Church Street and London Road.

A food trailer for local Bonitos café together serves food directly on Fountain Island. This was delivered alongside the performance stage which supported this programme of live events throughout June and July.

This programme supports the Council’s Culture Connects Strategy which aims to bring together local creative industries, businesses, grassroot organisations, communities and young people and to promote Enfield’s identity as a bright and creative place

There will be a comprehensive programme of events throughout the summer in Enfield’s town centres, including a repeat of A Month of Sundays – the hugely popular free festivals around the borough during August. To find out about the Enjoy Enfield Summer schedule, sign up to our newsletters at www.enfield.gov.uk/enewsletters

Enfield Winter Lights celebrated Enfield's culture and heritage through a series of incredible art installations, workshops and exhibitions across the borough during February and March 2022. Enfield Council partnered with local creative business Artist Hive Studios to deliver the festival and encourage the public to visit the many local businesses and restaurants that our borough has to offer.

This festival was funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC) Welcome Back Fund, established through a grant from the European Regional Development Fund (EDRF).

Highlights of Enfield Winter Lights in Enfield Town include:

• Mark Beattie: Unity
• Enfield Poets performances
• Half a Roast Chicken: It’s Nicer to Be Nice!
• Lauren Baker: The Trees Are Watching
• Claire Luxton: These Glasshouses
• Silent Disco on Market Square
• Palace Exchange art installation Pop-Ups
• DYSPLA: Words Not Wall
• Art Trail

Enfield Council would like to thank Artist Hive Studios and the artists, businesses and organisations involved in bringing joy, lights and positivity to our borough!

Instagram and Facebook @enfieldwinterlights

Twitter @enfieldwinterl

#EnfieldWinterLights

Full details available at https://www.enfieldwinterlights.com/

The inaugural Enfield Winter Lights celebration will illuminate the streets of Enfield in February and March bringing light, joy and positivity.

Enfield Winter Lights is a series of large-scale art instal­lations and activities designed to illuminate the town centres of Angel Edmonton, Enfield Town, Palmers Green and Southgate.

It will bring together artists, local businesses and the wider community, with spectacular light artworks designed to celebrate the heritage of Enfield and dazzle Angel Edmonton, Enfield Town, Palmers Green and Southgate with colour, creativ­ity and innovation. Enfield Winter Lights is delivered by Artist Hive Studios in partnership with Enfield Council.

Six prominent U.K. based artists who have been shortlisted to deliver site-specific takeovers in each of the town centres. These artists are: Mark Beattie, Claire Luxton, Half A Roast Chicken (otherwise known as Eve De Haan), Dan Maier, Lauren Baker and King Owusu.

In addition, local artists have been selected to uplift our high street with mean-while installations activating vacant shops and connecting with local businesses. We will also invite the community to enjoy a curated borough-wide art trail viewable night and day, on billboards in seventeen locations.

As well as iconic outdoor art interventions Enfield Winter Lights will include interactive elements, where the community is encouraged to get creative. Workshops will be hosted by Blake Carlson-Joshua and architect and designer Purva Kundaje, Dan Maier and Jylle Navarro. Full details will be available at www.enfieldwinterlights.com

The festival pays homage to local luminary Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, a pioneer in the electronics industry and an early developer of a successful incandescent light bulb, over 130 years ago. In 1886 Edison Swan United Electric Light Co. took over the former jute mill at Duck Lees Lane in Ponders End and converted it to manufacture electric light bulbs, leading to the factory being known colloquially as ‘The Lamp’.

This work is supported by The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Welcome Back Fund, estab­lished through a grant from the European Regional Development Fund (EDRF). Delivered by Artist Hive Studios. The money is helping Enfield Council put in place additional measures to establish a safe trading environment for businesses and customers in the wake of COVID-19, particularly in high streets, and support our local economy on the road to recovery.

Instagram and Facebook @enfieldwinterlights

Twitter @enfieldwinterl

#EnfieldWinterLights

Grab your Santa hats and bring out your baubles, Enfield Council is bringing a series of 'Merry Enfield' Christmas events to four town centres.

The free, outdoor festivals will take place in Enfield Town, Palmers Green, Angel Edmonton and Southgate where local performers, artists and community groups will provide entertainment to help shoppers and visitors get into the Christmas spirit.

The events will include performances, a jumbo screen, live acoustic music, and Southgate based theatre company, Chickenshed, will provide a programme containing “Tales From the Shed”, extracts from its full Christmas show, street dance, and a DJ set. Chickenshed has also written the borough its own song, ‘We wish you a Merry Enfield’ which is hoped will become a local Christmas hit! This will all be coming to Enfield Town, Library Green on 4 December, 12-6pm.

In addition, Enfield Council is funding an enhanced Parade of Lights. The hugely popular parade will take place in Enfield Town on Sunday 5 December and will include entertainment and carol singing at the market square.

Further details can be found at www.merryenfield.co.uk

The Town Centres Team launched the first phase of Fountain Island outdoor trading/al fresco dining in July 2020. The project supported three businesses with new outdoor trading space and helped to activate this key and prominent location in the town centre. This year, we will be building on the scheme to support even more local businesses/organisations which would support not only outdoor dining but also more cultural and community activities/events.

The second phase of Fountain Island is expected to be delivered in Spring 2021, following which the council will continue to work with businesses and organisations in the area to jointly produce a long-term plan/programme for the future of the space.

Enfield Council has awarded over £100,000 to community heritage projects as part of a ‘Stories of Enfield’ programme funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. ‘Stories of Enfield’ has brought together groups from across the borough to share ideas about Enfield’s heritage and to receive training in planning and delivering cultural heritage work.

A total of 32 groups put forward ideas and a steering group including local residents selected the best projects to take forward. In all, 13 community heritage projects will receive National Lottery funding through the scheme, all of which will explore aspects of Enfield’s heritage and provide exciting opportunities for borough residents.

The projects reflect the rich and diverse identity of Enfield, including the histories of different cultural groups, buildings, parks and rivers. Residents will have the opportunity to attend story telling sessions, follow poetry and art trails, visit exhibitions, watch a new short film about and take part in learning about and celebrating the borough’s history.

All the projects will be developed and delivered over the following year, running from October 2021 to November 2022. Read more about the granted projects by clicking here.