The Summer Disco Picnic at Lloyd Park will include a dance tent with DJs throughout the day, a craft area for kids, a Pillars Brewery bar, and street food
The organisers of the cancelled Walthamstow Garden Party are set to put on a scaled-down pilot version of the festival this Saturday (13th July) at the Fellowship Island in Lloyd Park.
Called the Summer Disco Picnic, the pilot event will include a dance tent with DJs throughout the day, facepainting, a craft area for kids, a Pillars Brewery bar, and street food.
Organisers aim to grow the event gradually each year so that it can eventually mirror the size of the Walthamstow Garden Party, which was attended by as many as 35,000 people before it was abruptly cancelled in 2022.
The event is possible thanks to sponsorships from the University of Portsmouth, Central Estates, and Pillars Brewery,
There will also be an after party at Walthamstow’s Trades Hall from 8pm to 1am.
To raise funds for the mini-festival, a fundraiser was held at the Pillars Brewery tap room in Walthamstow on Saturday 29th June.
While it helped, organisers say there is still a need for more cash so they can ensure the festival stays free for all attendees. They have set up a GoFundMe crowdfunder where they are seeking to raise £1,000.
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Writing for the Echo’s June issue, organiser and DJ Dominic Mandrell detailed the financial hurdles he has faced in trying to get the festival back on after the Barbican pulled its funding in 2022.
He wrote: “Unlike the Barbican, we don’t have dedicated staff or substantial fundraising capabilities. Producing a free-entry festival while paying for essentials like tent hire, security, toilets, generators, and speaker systems is difficult and sustaining ourselves financially while dedicating time to this unpaid passion project has been tough.”
He encountered a further setback when a grant application he submitted to Waltham Forest Council was rejected.
Organisers of the Summer Disco Picnic warn that no alcohol purchased externally or glass bottles will be allowed inside, and attendees are advised to come on foot or by public transport as there is limited on-site parking.
Find out more about the After Party at the Walthamstow Trades Hall here
Donate to the Summer Disco Picnic crowd-funder here, and sign up to be a volunteer at the event here
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