The Haringey summer festival guide 2023

As the summer season gets underway, we take a look at some of the best community-focused festivals in the borough

Schools participating in Markfield Road Festival (credit Matt Hass)

Crouch End Festival

“In the beginning, we had no experience, no money or anything. But we’ve – over the years – learned a lot of lessons,” says Chris Arnold, one of three founders of Crouch End Festival. The celebration returns this month for its twelfth edition, after emerging out of ‘Crouch End Creatives’ Facebook page meetups at The Queens Pub.

What was meant to be a one-day event turned into a ten-day extravaganza, showcasing the crème de la crème of Crouch End businesses, talent and community – entirely free to attend and completely volunteer-run. “We wanted to keep this very much grassroots, and very much community,” says Chris. “Also, we decided from the beginning, we wanted everything to be free. It’s a myth that everybody’s wealthy on this side of the borough.

“It’s a bit like Edinburgh […] We’ll organise four or five events and the rest is dozens if not hundreds of events being organised by other people.”

Stationer’s Park will be home to the festival’s family hub, where a packed programme of children’s activities and entertainment will take place. Seven local schools will also perform from this stage. At Weston Park, a market with 60 stalls will unfurl, with a big stage playing host to jazz performances.

The festival took a hit during the pandemic, and will now be focused across three days. A “psychedelic lighting show” will return to St Mary’s Tower – a tribute to Pink Floyd who did their first light shows at Crouch End. And the ‘poets in a phone box’ will make its comeback, which involves “poets literally coming out of the phone box and giving you poems”. This addition, Chris says, has “gone global. It’s been covered all over the world.”

This year, many of the events will be dedicated to Ukraine. “We have one of Ukraine’s biggest rock bands playing,” enthuses Chris. “Also we’ve got a couple of Ukrainian musicians who are absolutely amazing.”

Over 100 bands apply to play at the festival each year, which – while exciting – creates a lot of admin. “People say: why do you do this? We do it for the community,” says Chris. “And it’s a great joy to see people having a great time.

“It’s a bit of a jewel in the crown for Haringey, because it’s […] one of the biggest community arts festivals, and it’s very highly respected now.” Supporting fringe arts is crucial, with no auditions held for acts. “We provide a platform for anybody to basically do their thing,” explains Chris.

What makes Crouch End special – named the ‘best place to live in London’ by The Times – is it has “got a very high population of creative people,” says Chris. “About half the people work here or work in the creative industries”, plus it’s home to “one of the top five recording studios in the country, The Church Studios.

“We’ve had some very famous people come in, including Johnny Depp […] a lot of them say that the thing they like about the Crouch End is it is actually a place where you can be quite anonymous.”

Crouch End Festival takes place from Friday, 7^th July until Sunday, 9th July. To find out more:
Visit crouchendfestival.org

North London Lates

Tottenham Sounds at The Trampery (credit Katharina Reinthaller)

Local arts groups Fore Street for All and Made by Tottenham are joining forces to launch ‘North London Lates’, a brand new festival taking over the high street in Angel Edmonton and North Tottenham on Saturday, 15th July.

The stretch of the high street running between Silver Street and Bruce Grove gets packed during Tottenham Hotspur match days and (in summer) for music concerts such as the recent Beyonce tour. But the rest of the time, this part of London may not feel like ‘the place to be’. That’s why the community is coming together to present North London Lates – a free multi-venue event that breathes new creative life into the iconic buildings, civic spaces and little-known gems of the high street. These locations will play host to a buzzing programme featuring art, live music, performances, food and more.

In Tottenham, The Victoria Pub will host Noutéka’s Quartier Libre event, with movement workshops, live music and DJs. Noutéka is an international collective of musicians, producers, rappers and dancers. The Trampery will also present Tottenham Sounds in collaboration with Threads Radio, an intimate gig showcasing the best of local talent.

In addition, public artist Hanna Benihoud will create a trail of paste-ups along the North London Lates route for a project called ‘Too Sexy For The Streets’. The artwork explores themes of sexuality and objectification in public space, inspired by a collage workshop that Hanna led for the London Festival of Architecture. By creating thought-provoking artwork, Hanna seeks to initiate a dialogue about these important issues that are experienced in public yet rarely discussed in public.

In Edmonton, newly-launched Angel Yard hosts a collection of 35 workspaces and will be opening its doors for visitors to meet its businesses, enjoy art exhibitions and family-friendly activities. This will spill out into a beautiful new pedestrianised section of Grove Street, where there’ll be food and drink and live music courtesy of Tanum Sound System.

Clang Studios will present performances from an array of local artists at The Gilpin’s Bell in Fore Street. Clang provides professional rehearsal and recording studios for musicians and creators in Enfield. Fore Street Living Room Library will host a makers’ market for creatives and traders from across Enfield and Haringey. Get your hands on some brilliant artwork, homeware and products.

North London Lates is also a perfect opportunity to visit the many incredible businesses on the high street along Tottenham High Road and Fore Street – some of whom will have special North London Lates offers.

North London Lates runs from 5pm until late on Saturday, 15th July. All events are free and open to all, but some may require advance booking. Find out more:
Visit eventbrite.co.uk/e/north-london-lates-tickets

The Rec Fest

A brand new festival will be coming to the borough next month, hosted by The Record Shop’s own Mary Otumahana – aka WondRWomN. Get ready for a full day of music, workshops and much more, all brought to you by this award-winning social enterprise.

The free event will feature a line-up of artists including WondRWomN herself plus Icy Amane, Slim Iggs, J.Ibz, ADS Kru and more to be announced later.

The Rec Fest will be held at The Mall in Wood Green on Saturday, 12th August. To find out more:
Visit therecshop.co.uk/the-recfest

Markfield Road Festival

For its second edition, Tottenham’s Markfield Road Festival will be bringing back more incredible local creatives for art, music and discussion.

Haringey Community Press is excited to be partnering with the festival this year to bring you news and events as part of the celebrations.

Founder Malene Oddershede Bach says: “For 2023, we’re adding additional activities, a bigger programme, and will be teaming up with more local businesses for a weekend celebrating all the amazing creative work happening on Markfield Road.”

Markfield Road Festival takes place from Friday, 8^th September until Sunday, 10th September. To find out more:
Visit markfieldroadfestival.co.uk

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