Deptford Heritage Festival 2015

In first Deptford Heritage Festival takes place on May bank holiday from Friday 1st to Monday 4th May 2015 on Deptford's High Street and surrounding historical buildings and areas to showcase the area's proud history, heritage, faith, community, and identity.

Line-up

Opening Event Storylines'Beating of the Bounds, Back in the Day, Tai Chi, Martial Arts, Children's Pirate Film Festival, Deptford Power Station presentation by the South London Green Energy Co-Op, All day exhibition of Deptford's History in pictures, The Browning Society, Brian Lavery, Bruno Groening, The Merry Opera Company perform Handel's Messiah, Cool Jazz and Smooth Soul music, Jazz and Blues zone, Boris Johnson's Public hearing into the Convoy's Wharf Planning decision, Patrick and the Quaggy Poets showcase, The Deptford Short Film Festival, Deptford does Ibiza, Children and Family Day, Meet the local parlimentary Candidates,  Climate Change or Inequality? End of the Debate, Dog Show with a nautical/pirate theme, and Deptford does ABBA.

It will have 4 Music zoned area stages. World Music...a Chill out Stage area for Blues and Jazz... a Performance stage for Dance etc and another Stage for Classsical music, we will also have a stage area for Poetry.. Wordsmith along the lines of George the Poet and Kate Tempest, both of whom have been invited to perform.. Lewisham council have consented with the Police to close roads. This will be the first festival of its type in London.

Organisers hope to create a new performance space for big world names to perform in London and for new acts just breaking to try performing to a smaller crowed.

Tickets

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Tickets are priced at £25

More info

May has traditionally been an important month for working people and the festival will feature a number of events to remember, from the ‘Beating of the Bounds’, in which local community groups will march around Deptford, to the premiere of a film that follows the work of Lewisham People Before Profit over the past 2 years.

Deptford High Street will be closed and zoned, making it ideal for families and people with disability. There will be a Village Green offering classical music, poetry, choirs and community stalls. The Chill Out Zone will feature live jazz and blues. The World Stage will provide a platform for international performances, including poetry and cabaret, and the World Food Market will give a taste of the wide variety of food enjoyed by the 127 different cultural groups that call Deptford home.

On Bank Holiday Monday, as part of the commemoration of Deptford’s 500 years of ship-building, there will be a Children’s Pirate Street Party on the foreshore, with miniature boat building.

The Festival, which is a charity fundraising event, will feature a range of entertainment, including international events, such as Handel’s Messiah, plus performances, tours and talks that highlight people and events that have helped to put Deptford on the map. These will include Christopher Marlowe: A Spy and his Murder - Marlowe Myths Busted; Robert Browning, his life and love in Deptford; Remembering Deptford Power Station; The Royal Docks; The Battle of Deptford Bridge; and The Boris Johnson Convoys Wharf Hearings.

There will be events to commemorate and celebrate the importance of black culture and history in Deptford; artists will hold open-studio events and many other buildings of special interest will be open to the public; there will be guided walks and tours of the area. The festival will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Midi Music Centre; there will be talks and workshops on yoga and alternative health; a Model Railway event will celebrate our local transport heritage; and there will be both a New Cross and Deptford Film Festival and a Short Film Festival, which will feature short films made by local residents and school students on their mobile phones.

On Bank Holiday Monday evening, the festival will end with Deptford Does Abba, and, at 10pm, enjoy a spectacular firework display to close the festival.

Accommodation

This event does not have camping but there are a number of hotels, hostels and guest houses in the area.

More information will be here when available.