David Williamson from the Friends of Broomfield Park on what’s planned for this summer’s Broomfield Festival

After a year without much sign of live arts and culture, the Friends of Broomfield Park are determined to create a summer to remember.

Broomfield Summer Festival runs from May to October, using the ‘Broomfield Bowl’ – an old bowling green, repurposed for live outdoor events. We are planning a kaleidoscope of more than 40 events featuring music, theatre, cinema, dance, storytelling and food – something for everyone in the community.

In 2020 we were able to run three pilot events complying with Covid-19 rules, which showed us that we can run events safely at Broomfield Bowl and highlighted the appetite for more. Over the winter we have been forging partnerships with local and national organisations to create more events in the park this summer.

Working with local theatre producer Andrew Lynford, we are bringing touring theatre groups to Broomfield Park, including lots of fun family events, as well as Shakespeare and Gilbert and Sullivan. Andrew says: “I am so excited to see Broomfield Bowl become an important performance space and theatre companies are enthusiastic to make this one of their regular gigs.”

Local performing arts schools Centre Stage and Chickenshed also feature in the programme. Carole O’Shea, principal of Centre Stage, says: “Last year we had to cancel all of our performances due to the restrictions, so we are delighted to perform outdoors at Broomfield Bowl this summer.”

The Hazelwood Players are a group of former parents of Hazelwood School in Palmers Green. They are creating a brand new ‘summer panto’, a madcap tour around the world with lots of jokes and music but with a serious message about the environment at its core. Moira Foster, one of the production team, says: “We were all involved in school pantos which the children loved, so we are excited to try it out as a summertime event at the Broomfield Summer Festival.”

The Ghanaian and Mauritian events in Trent Park attract thousands of people, but organiser Dennis Tawiah saw another great opportunity with Broomfield Summer Festival. He said: “Our big events are great, but we would also like to do something more intimate, with smaller groups and with a strong community feel, and Broomfield Bowl is an ideal place to try out this new approach.”

Ian Barnes, deputy leader of Enfield Council, is also delighted to see such community effort going on in Enfield’s parks. He said: “Broomfield Summer Festival is exactly what we need right now to lift the spirits after a hugely challenging year, and it’s exactly what we envisaged when when we launched our new culture strategy.

“It’s fantastic to be working in close partnership with Friends of Broomfield Park generating such amazing events in our borough.”

Broomfield Summer Festival is packed with new events and annual traditions such as Blues Sundays and Talkies Community Cinema outdoor screenings. There’s lots to enjoy, whatever your tastes.

Friends of Broomfield Park is a volunteer-led, not-for-profit community group. Proceeds go towards supporting activities in the park.

Broomfield Summer Festival starts on Friday 21st May. For more information:
Visit fobp.events

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