Markfield Road Festival is back for its second edition this September

For 21 years and counting, artists on Markfield Road in Tottenham have allowed visitors an inside look at their creative hubs as part of
an open studios event. Formerly Euroart Studios, Gaunson Creative Studios boasts over 50 artists showing off their best work – with a chance to pick up a painting or sculpture to take back home.

Paul Rogers and Malene Oddershede Bach took over the management of many of the studios in 2020 – coinciding with lockdown. “Last year was our first open studio that we were able to do and actually have the public in,” says Malene. They decided to take the event up a notch, turning it into a full three-day festival, packed with music, activities – plus a bouncy castle for kids. “In the end, it generated quite a nice crowd. Rather than just the people that would normally come for an open studio, it was people who came for the music, but actually got really surprised and ended up buying some artwork instead.

“Originally, it was only meant to be small, and then it kind of grew.”

This year, Markfield Road Festival is back even bigger and better. Paul and Malene have secured closure of the road, allowing bars, seating and event space to sprawl across it. “We’ve got a bigger outside space, and then the DJs will be on the road,” says Hazel Brown, another of the festival’s employees. “And we’ll have lots of seating and extra activities.”

Their initial vision for the festival, the pair say, was “connecting up a bit with the local community that doesn’t necessarily know what happens behind a brick and mortar wall.

“There’s all this amazing work happening in the local area, but no-one actually really knows about it,” says Malene. An important part of this is sharing creative opportunities through education. Two local schools will be taking part, opening the festival with a colourful procession.

“The other side of it was to try and showcase what’s going on behind the doors and inspire the next generation,” explains Hazel. Malene adds: “People would go to school every day, they would have no idea what happens next door. And I think a lot of it is to try to inspire people [to think] that working within the creative industries is a career option.

“One thing I thought was quite shocking is that a lot of primary schools only got £500 budget a year towards arts and creativity […] They couldn’t even afford to buy glue.

“There’s going to be less and less people over time that focus on the creative industries.”

Talks and workshops are a key part of what’s on – even HCP will be getting involved to help open up the often elusive world of writing careers. But at its crux, Markfield Road Festival is about the artists. “A lot of artists are quite bad at pushing their work in front of people and selling their own work,” says Malene. “A lot of people who had been involved in it the last ten years had never sold anything. And all of a sudden, they started selling quite a bit of work.”

“Tottenham actually is the biggest area with the most amount of creative workspaces in Haringey,” says Malene. Ultimately, Markfield Road Festival celebrates the creative legacy of Tottenham – and hopes to ensure its survival into the future.

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