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Tag Archives: Borough of Culture
Pictures on our streets show we need more art in Croydon
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Pablo Picasso said, ‘Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life’, and PETER UNDERWOOD believes that our borough, and its many outstanding arts organisations, could do with a bit more of the dust being washed … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Croydon Greens, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, National Gallery Art On Your Doorstep, Peter Underwood, Poetry, Queens Gardens, Talawa Theatre Company, Turf Projects
Tagged Art, Art On Your Doorstep, Auguste Rodin, Borough of Culture, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Mayor, National Gallery, National GalleryArt, Pablo Picasso, Peter Underwood, Queens Gardens, Talawa Theatre Company, The BRIT School
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Surrey Street’s Mr Fox ‘cocktail pub’ freehold is put up for sale
Yet another Croydon town centre pub has closed, as the food and drink business empire of a colleague of Mayor Jason Perry appears to be feeling the strain. Signs for Fleurets, a specialist pub and hospitality property agency, appeared above … Continue reading
‘The improvement panel’s general position is to sell everything’
CROYDON COMMENTARY: This website’s editor, STEVEN DOWNES, on why a Mayor who keeps getting caught out in untruths really needs to start being more honest with the borough’s residents If ever there was an example of Mayor Jason Perry “being … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Mayor Jason Perry, Music, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Theatre
Tagged 20th Century Society, Alison Butler, BH Live, BHLive, Borough of Culture, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Tory
15 Comments
Government panel wants Croydon to flog off the Fairfield Halls
CROYDON IN CRISIS: With the council’s annual overspend reaching £100m, Whitehall-appointed commissioners could force the sale of the arts centre, which the C20 Society describes as an ‘underappreciated South Bank Centre of the suburbs’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon could … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Music, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Theatre
Tagged 20th Century Society, Alison Butler, BH Live, BHLive, Borough of Culture, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Tony Newman, Tory
33 Comments
Fairfield Halls to close down borough’s biggest music school
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council-owned arts centre, refurbished at a cost of £70m, is closing its doors to 200 fee-paying pupils in what one councillor describes as ‘a loss to the community’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon, London’s “Borough of … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon Council, Croydon School of Art, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, Music, Neil Chandler, Ruskin Square, Theatre
Tagged BH Live, BHLive, Borough of Culture, Cllr Esther Sutton, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, London Borough of Croydon, Neil Chandler, Tory, Yamaha Music School
9 Comments
Town Hall boss Hibberd quits to take top job at Bristol council
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The £150,000 per year corporate director ultimately responsible for the council buying CCTV cameras that don’t work in Britain and who oversaw the procurement disaster over the borough’s bus shelters has now ensured the closure of four … Continue reading
Anyone followed the Music Heritage Trail? Or even found it?
Over the past week, Croydon Mayor Jason Perry and some of his chums from the local business community have been celebrating the ‘success’ (their word, not ours) of the year as the Borough of Culture. We sent ELSIE GOWERS off … Continue reading
Hurry! Community groups offered share of £85,000 arts fund
The council has just opened applications for culture and community groups to apply for a share of £85,000 grant funding to host events and activities this summer that “focus on creative wellbeing across the arts, culture and heritage”. The council … Continue reading
How businesses profited at expense of the Borough of Culture
BOROUGH OF VULTURES: £1.3m of arts funding provided by the Mayor of London was misused by Croydon’s Tory council to boost local businesses, but delivered a year-long flop, judging by official audience figures. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s year as … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, CODA, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Croydonites Festival, Dance, Fairfield Halls, Kristian Aspinall, London Mozart Players, Mayor Jason Perry, Music, Stanley Halls, Theatre
Tagged Andy Stranack, Borough of Culture, Borough of Vultures, CODA, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon BID, Croydon Clocktower, Croydon Council, Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, David Lean Cinema, Develop Croydon, Fairfield Halls, Kristian Aspinall, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory, White Label
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Two more Croydon music and dance festivals forced to cancel
Croydon’s calendar year as London’s Borough of Culture has not quite finished, but its dubious legacy appears to be sealed in failure after not one but two established festivals announced that they won’t take place in 2024. Croydon Pride posted … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Community associations, Croydon Council, Dance, Mark Watson, Mayor Jason Perry, Music
Tagged Borough of Culture, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Mela, Croydon Pride, Croydon Pridefest, London, Mark Watson, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory, Wandle Park
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How Croydon’s ‘Culture Club’ was turned into a business clique
CROYDON IN CRISIS: As the borough’s £1.5m year of culture is staggering to its conclusion, we reveal how the owners of a Surrey Street pub were handed £28,000 for… nothing. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES As Croydon’s year as London’s Borough … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Pubs, Restaurants, Surrey Street
Tagged Apsara Arts, Borough of Culture, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Develop Croydon, Fern, giraffes, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mr Fox, Surrey Street, Surrey Street Carnival, Tory, White Label
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Croydon 2023: the Penn Report, dog attacks and those giraffes
THE YEAR IN REVIEW Part 2 – May to August If there was one good thing to come out of Croydon Council this year, then it must have been the Penn Report. Katherine Kerswell, the council’s chief executive, had held … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Crime, Croydon Council, Heathfield House, History, Inside Croydon, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Borough of Culture, CODA, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, David Morgan, giraffes, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Ian Hislop, Ken Towl, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Private Eye, Purley Way, Tory, Utah, Wastefield, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Brassed off: Borough of Culture’s ‘contempt’ for arts groups
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Readers have reacted with equal amounts of disgust and dismay at the on-going revelations of hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money squandered by the shambolic Borough of Culture – where fewer than 500 people downloaded the … Continue reading
The cost of Croydon’s Music Heritage Trail: £750 per download!
BOROUGH OF VULTURES: Fewer than 500 people have bothered to use the special app intended to guide them around the town centre’s historic music locations. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES “Have we already fucked it up?” According to official meeting minutes … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Stranack, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Boxpark, Business, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Music, Sadiq Khan
Tagged Andy Stranack, Borough of Culture, Borough of Vultures, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Music Heritage Trail, giraffes, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Mayor Sadiq Khan, Tory
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BID’s brass neck over plastic giraffes, as only 1,000 used app
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council gave a £50,000 arts grant to a business organisation, where Mayor Perry is on the board of directors. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Jason Perry might as well have stood at the end of Surrey Street … Continue reading
Taking Liberty with the arts in a way that celebrates us all
KEN TOWL takes hope, and much joy, from last week’s Liberty Festival, where deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists injected some much-needed culture into the borough. Photos by PAUL FULLER The Liberty Festival, which landed in Croydon last weekend, represented the … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Borough of Culture 2023, Comedy, Dance, Fairfield Halls, Ken Towl, Music, Poetry
Tagged Aaron Simmonds, Ashcroft Theatre, Borough of Culture, Croydon, Drunken Chorus, Fairfield Halls, Francesca Martinez, giraffes, Inner Vision Orchestra, Ken Towl, Liberty Festival, Steve Day
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Perry is director of company handed £50,000 culture grant
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES One of the biggest single grants handed out by Croydon Council for Borough of Culture projects has gone to a company where Mayor Jason Perry is a director. While several long-established, recognised community arts groups had … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Borough of Culture, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, giraffes, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Tory
14 Comments
A town centre amble that goes from the sublime to ridiculous
KEN TOWL took a stroll down Surrey Street and Church Street and encountered two different takes on what passes for ‘culture’ in Croydon The Croydon Clocktower has an exhibition of the works of Evacustes Phipson. “Evacustes who?” you may ask … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Ken Towl, Surrey Street
Tagged Borough of Culture, Church Street, CNH&SS, Croydon, Croydon BID, Croydon Clocktower, Croydon Council, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Evacustes Phipson, Ken Towl, London Borough of Croydon, Surrey Street
3 Comments
£250 per day fees paid to lead on borough’s Heritage Trail
CROYDON IN CRISIS: One arts company in the borough appears to have won the Lottery for its role in the less-than-inspiring flagship project for the Borough of Culture. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The project lead working on the Music Heritage … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon Council, Education, Museum of Croydon, Music, Queens Gardens
Tagged Borough of Culture, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heritage Music Trail, Jacqueline du Pre, Jamie Reid, Kirsty MacColl, London Borough of Croydon, National Lottery, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Queens Gardens, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Stormzy
22 Comments
Purley Festival returns to Rotary Field with live music stage
The Purley Festival is set to return to Rotary Field next month, hoping to deliver “a wonderful celebration of culture, talent and community”, according to the organisers. The focal point of the weekend of September 9 and 10 will be … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Charity, Music, Purley, Purley BID
Tagged Borough of Culture, Purley, Purley BID, Purley Festival, Rotary Field, Simon Cripps
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GLA has few checks on how £1.3m Culture grant is being spent
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The cash-strapped council received £1.35m from City Hall towards the staging of the Borough of Culture, but it is subject to next-to-no external scrutiny over how that public money is being used. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Community associations, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Borough of Culture, City Hall, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, GLA, Greater London Authority, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
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It’s hard to find signs of the borough’s musical heritage trail
So just what do we get for the £220,000 of Lottery cash splurged on Croydon’s Music Heritage Trail? We sent LOUISA GAUTREY along to road-test the trail and its accompanying app As a teenager who listens to a wide range … Continue reading
CODA’s Alice Through Wonderland, Wandle Park, Jul 26-29
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
CODA’s Alice Through Wonderland, Wandle Park, Jul 26-29
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
