Please read the below information to better understand the various areas at this year’s Thamesmead Festival.
Community Zone/Kids Workshops Open Call
Craft and Food Market Open Call (via CC Events)
We’re excited to be returning with the Thamesmead Festival this summer in Southmere Park on Saturday 12 August from 12pm – 7.30pm.
Following a very successful festival last year, which saw 7,000 people celebrate Thamesmead and what it has to offer, we’re determined to make this year’s event even better.
Our Festival Production Group (made up of 13 local residents) has already started planning and discussing ideas for the programme, which will include music, spoken word, dance, creative projects, a dog show, kids zone, community and craft stalls, as well as food.
The festival is delivered by live events producer Serious, and supported by Peabody’s Culture Team, who are funding the festival.
We would like to invite you to become a part of the Thamesmead Festival 2023! Are you an artist, performer, small business or part of a community group or charity who’d like to have a stall or perform?
Take a look at the ways you can get involved below and get in touch through filling out our Open Call forms.
Deadline for Open Call submissions: 9am on Monday 10 April 2023
Due to the size and budget of this year’s festival we may not be able to accommodate everyone, but we will seek to programme a broad and diverse range of content that is representative of Thamesmead, and makes a great festival for everyone. By filling in an Open Call form you agree to us keeping your contact details on file for future festivals and we may get in touch with you about future events.
Have a question? Please email thamesmeadnow@peabody.org.uk
Performance Open Call
This year’s festival will see the return of our three main stages – the Park Stage, up on the hill; the Southmere Stage on Southmere Square and the more informal Unplugged Stage among the trees. We are looking forward to filling these stages with a variety of art forms, from music to spoken word, dance, magic and comedy.
If you would like to perform on one of our stages, please let us know more about your work via our Open Call form here.
Community Stalls and Kids Zone Workshops
We are looking for charities and community groups active in Thamesmead and its surrounding areas that would like to have a presence at this year’s festival. We’d love local groups and charities to operate community stalls at the event providing information about their work in the community and running small-scale, free workshops or activities for children or adults.
If a formal stall isn't suitable but you are keen to offer something else at our festival, please do complete the below form as we would still love to hear from you.
If you would like to have a community stall, please fill in our Open Call form here.
Visual Arts
We want this year's festival to be representative of all art forms and to celebrate the large community of visual artists in Thamesmead. In past years we’ve showcased artists’ works on banners, through temporary artist installations, and via workshops and site decorations. All artwork must be suitable for an audience of all ages.
If you would like to showcase your artwork, please fill in our Open Call form here.
Food and Craft Stalls
Our food and craft stalls are managed by local market provider CC Events, who have been holding various successful markets in Thamesmead over the past six years, including markets for the Thamesmead Festival.
For this year’s festival we’d like to grow and diversify what’s available on the day, offering a variety of foods from all over the world, as well as a good selection of different craft stalls.
The festival has become a very popular annual celebration which offers a great opportunity to traders who want to showcase their products and benefit from a very busy day.
If you’d like a food or craft stall, please fill in our open call form here.
You can email CC Events at info@cceventsuk.com for any questions around this specific Open Call.
