Cultural Celebrations Fund 2024 to 2025

Projects funded in 2023-2024

Peckham Platform: Performance programme as part of London Gallery Weekend
Bankside Open Spaces Trust: BOST community Festival
Camberwell Arts: Festival launch event
Vanessa Woolf: Our World - family storytelling celebration
Southwark Black Parents Forum: Akwasidae Festival
Candoco Dance Company: Day of Dance and Burst community project
Carnaval del Pueblo
Camberwell Fair
One Newington Festival
Frog Morris: Illuminate Bermondsey
Culture Tree Centre: Yoruba Heritage Walking Trails
Shake Ya Creative: Shake Ya Brass The Remix!

Peckham Platform: Performance programme as part of London Gallery Weekend

3 June 2023, Peckham Square

Peckham Platform presents Body Arcana: Homebuilding. Part of the London Gallery Weekend’s expanded performance programme. Produced in collaboration with public art organisation, UP Projects.

Find out more about the performance programme

Bankside Open Spaces Trust: BOST community Festival

10 June 2023, Red Cross Way and Union Street

Bringing people together from the local area including residents, businesses and other local organisations.

Find our more about BOST community Festival

Camberwell Arts: Festival launch event

10 June 2023, Camberwell Green

Held alongside the Farmers Market to celebrate the arts in Camberwell. The event will include a tea party, dog show, performances, art workshops and a range of arts and crafts stalls.

Find out more about the festival launch event

Vanessa Woolf: Our World - family storytelling celebration

1 July 2023, Southwark Park

Family storytelling performances from 5 renowned professional storytellers from diverse cultural backgrounds including West African, Irish and Eastern European. Storytellers will represent and celebrate local cultures found in North Bermondsey. They will tell traditional stories from their own culture with a theme of nature and our world. There will be a crafts space where children can enjoy eco-crafts such as clay making and bee-seed 'bombs'

Find out more about Our World - family storytelling celebration

Southwark Black Parents Forum: Akwasidae Festival

16 July 2023, Camberwell Green

An outdoor Ghanaian festival with food, arts and crafts, face painters, acrobats, African drummers, African dancers, live performances, a DJ and MC.

Find out more about Akwasidae Festival

Candoco Dance Company: Day of Dance and Burst community project

29 July 2023, Peckham Square

A free, family-friendly outdoor inclusive dance and arts festival. The event features free, inclusive workshops in a variety of dance styles. An array of live dance and theatre performances including Candoco and British Youth Music Theatre's co-production of Burst!

Find out more about Day of Dance and Burst

Carnaval del Pueblo

20 August 2023, Burgess Park

Celebrating Latin heritage with the Southwark Latin diaspora community. This event is open to people of all ages, ethnicities and abilities, with translators on site for Spanish-English and English-Spanish interpretation.

Find out more about Carnaval del Pueblo

Camberwell Fair

2 September 2023, Camberwell Green

A smaller version of the usual community-led music event. Celebrating the people of Camberwell in all their diversity with a small performance stage, a workshop and talks area, refreshments and community stalls.

Find out more about Camberwell Fair

One Newington Festival

Saturday 9 September 2023

This event will see ‘Pasley Park’ transformed with a free community festival fete for all the family.

Find out more about One Newington Festival

Frog Morris: Illuminate Bermondsey

24 November 2023, Parade from The Blue Market Place to an event in Southwark Park

A free festival organised by and for residents, inspired by the histories of the Thames, the docks and migration. Local schools and community groups will make lanterns at artist-led workshops over the preceding weeks and assemble with them for the parade.  

Find out more about Illuminate Bermondsey

Culture Tree Centre: Yoruba Heritage Walking Trails

10 February to 2 March 2024, Burgess Park, Dulwich Park, Peckham Rye Park and Common, Southwark Park

This project will tell the story of the Yoruba community in Southwark through

Each trail and mural will have a QR code, taking visitors to an online oral history archive, where they can hear interviews linked to each stop on the trail.

Find out more about Yoruba Heritage Walking Trails

Shake Ya Creative: Shake Ya Brass The Remix!

Various dates, Burgess Park and Camberwell Green

Participants will enjoy live music whilst engaging in a professionally led aerobic / dance-based workout. An event that is fun but also health-based, accessible to all fitness levels, abilities and age groups, improving mood and raising heart rates. 

Find out more about Shake Ya Brass The Remix!

• • All funding applications must be completed and submitted via the Council’s online Grant Manager platform. The platform will allow you to navigate between sections, save your application as you go along and return to it later if you need to.  If you have previously applied for funding using Grant Manager, you can access previously saved information
  • You can download and preview a copy of the application form in advance of starting your application so that you can prepare your responses in advance (print to PDF option)
  • The application form is structured in the following format:
  • You can add supporting information in a variety of formats in Section C.  For example, you could share a film or photos of the event if it has happened before or it could be a bit more about yourself and the event you want to deliver
  • There is also an Equalities Monitoring form at the end of the application. This is optional and anonymous and is not taken into consideration as part of the application process.  But, the information you provide helps us to understand who is applying for and accessing funding, so we would encourage you to complete this section
  • Your application must be submitted by 9am on Wednesday 24 January 2024
  • Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an automatic notification confirming that your application has been received.  If we have queries about your application and the information you have provided, we may ask to speak to you before your application is formally assessed
  • Applicants who are shortlisted for funding will be invited to interview on Monday 12 February 2024 between 9am-5pm.The interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Please make sure you, or a representative, are available to attend a meeting if you are called
  • You will be asked to provide details of event income and expenditure as part of your application. This should balance with the amount of funding you are applying for. There is no requirement for match funding, but if you are applying for other funding streams to finance the event, please let us know
  • Please note it is a condition of funding to pay London Living Wage or industry standard rates as a minimum to anyone involved with the event in a paid working capacity
  • Funding will be paid by BACS to your nominated bank account.  Funding instalments will be paid in two parts:
    • 80% on acceptance of the funding offer and signing of agreement
    • 20% on completion of the event and submission of your event evaluation report. The report is due within one month of your event taking place
  • Please note that whilst Council funded events are not subject to venue hire fees, event organisers do still need to pay an event application fee when they submit their event applications, so please include this in your expenditure budget. Find more information on our fees and policy page
  • You will be connected to an Event Operations Officer (EOO) from the Events team who will be your key point of contact within the council for any matters relating to your funding agreement and your event delivery
  • If your funding application is successful, you will need to submit an event application, which is subject to the council’s standard event application process. Please note that a successful funding application does not guarantee that your event can take place. You will need to comply with all dates and milestones regarding the submission of your event management plans. Your assigned EEO will advise and support you with this
  • When your event has been delivered you will be asked to provide an event evaluation report. The report will need to include:
    • An overview of how the event went
    • A final budget
    • Who benefitted from the event
    • Who attended the event
    • How many attended the event
    • What outcomes you achieved
    • What lessons did you learn
    • Details of your carbon footprint 
  • Panel members will score applications against the following criteria. Scores will be awarded 0 – 5 with 0 being the lowest and 5 being the highest
  • How well does this event support the council delivery plan theme of ‘thriving neighbourhoods’?
  • How well does this event unite and connect communities?
  • How well does this event offer Southwark residents a chance to engage and participate in creative activity?
  • How well does this event support local businesses and contribute to the growth of the local economy?
  • How well does this event embody the Southwark Stands Together pledges? i.e. how well is a commitment to equality and diversity embedded in the event? How well does the event amplify diverse voices and / or address racial injustices?
  • How well does this event implement an environmentally sustainable approach that contributes to the Council's target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030? – does the event go above and beyond what the Events Environmental Sustainability Guide requires?
  • How well does this event provide employment and volunteering opportunities for Southwark residents?
  • How feasible is it that this event can be successfully delivered? (including within the proposed budget and time frame)
  • How relevant and successful is the event organiser's experience of delivering similar events?
  • How well does this event succeed in reaching as many people as possible? How accessible is this event?
  • Individuals on the panel will include a mix of people to ensure diversity of thought throughout the decision-making process
  • The panel will score applications individually before meeting as a group to agree a collective shortlist
  • Shortlisted applicants will be invited for interviews on Monday 12 February 2024 between 9am to 5pm
  • Funding recommendations will be made by the panel, based on the outcome of collective scores and with the intention of ensuring the delivery of events in different areas around the borough. The recommendations will be reviewed by the Cabinet Member via a formal decision making process
  • Please note that successful applicants will be notified of the provisional outcome of their funding applications on or around the 14 February 2024
  • Successful applicants will be required to abide by the Cultural Celebrations Terms and Conditions of funding ^{(PDF, 234kb)} 
  • We will need to set you up on the Council’s finance system so that you can receive your funding. Your funding will be paid in two instalments
  • We will introduce you to the Event officers who will be your main points of contact for your funding agreement and your event planning and delivery
  • If your application is not successful, we will offer you feedback on your application where possible
  • We will retain your contact details in order to notify you about future event funding opportunities unless you tell us not to. We will only use your details for this purpose and we will never share your details with anyone else
  • six interactive walking trails
  • an online oral history archive
  • a pop-up Yoruba community hub
  • 6 interactive murals across the borough of Southwark

Page last updated: 05 August 2024