Southgate 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 Southgate 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

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 Southgate include:

• Dan Maier: Southgate takeover of the Underground station and The Southgate Club
• Amy Wiggin: Only Connect @ Love Brownies
• Cat Coulter: Cyanotype Workshop - Making Blueprints with Light

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 Southgate high street on 18 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

Enfield Council has installed a parklet seating area on the footway on Chase Side, as part of a wider effort to encourage sustainable transport and protect the environment. Enfield Council’s Healthy Streets team and Town Centre Development team created the parklet outside 56/58 Chase Side in Southgate which will serve businesses by creating space for people to rest and relax while shopping or dining in the local area.

The parklet provides a public space that encourages social interaction and promotes walking and cycling. They aim to revive retail areas by engaging the local community and supporting the local economy.

The timing of the installation coincides with the post-COVID-19 re-opening of town centres in the borough; and compliments the support the Council has provided to local businesses during the pandemic. The Council’s objective is to support local businesses, increase footfall, promote sustainability and enhance the five priority town centres in the borough by introducing more green, welcoming spaces.

The parklet is just one of many initiatives to be launched in the area. The Southgate Task Force has been established with the support of local volunteers, and will focus on making the town centre cleaner, safer and greener. Dionne John from The Southgate Task Force said: “The new parklet increases the green space in Southgate and is a great place for the community to connect with each other.”

Information from other trials suggest that the delivery of a parklet boosts trade to local businesses such as coffee shops, cafes and restaurants by 30%, by attracting people to the area by creating a seating and social setting.

Parklets are becoming popular around London and the world as they provide a space for people to stop and rest while visiting an area, somewhere to have lunch or meet a neighbour, combined with plants or trees for shade and to make the space more inviting to spend time.

Click here for further information and to make suggestions for future locations for parklets in the borough.

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.

Two of five new pedestrian crossings designed by local Enfield artists have been revealed as the finale of the Enjoy Enfield Summer of Arts programme. Enfield Council commissioned the artists to create colourful, playful designs to appear in Angel Edmonton, Edmonton Green, Enfield Town, Palmers Green and Southgate, as part of the celebration of the arts and culture in the borough and also as a long-term initiative to see how art can transform public spaces.

The first crossing to be revealed was in Enfield Town, designed by Hasan Bölücek, a member of the British Alevi community who is a visual artist, illustrator and art teacher. The second crossing was designed by Dan Maier, a resident of Enfield who has worked in venues such as Harvey Nichols and the National Theatre and who also launched the much-loved Art Trail event in Southgate and Palmers Green.

Commenting on her Southgate pedestrian crossing, Ms Maier said: "Southgate has a huge amount going for it but the high street needs help more than ever…I wanted to create something bright and cheerful, introducing the essence of nature and its vibrant colours into our urban landscape. The colour scheme references the rainbows that have been so prevalent during lockdown, symbolising peace and hope for the future. I've abstracted elements from the natural world to create a striking artwork which I hope will bring some joy, spark imagination and once again put Southgate on the map."

Learn more about the artists here.