The Croydon Food and Music Festival has drawn to a close for another year, after a joy-filled day of feasting, music and dancing – celebrating the diversity of Croydon’s culinary and cultural scene.
The festival took place in the heart of Croydon’s Restaurant Quarter, which was transformed into an alfresco dining experience, attracting over 11,000 visitors from across the borough and beyond. Festival-goers had 45 stalls to choose from, including 35 food and drink traders, representing a wide range of cuisines from around the world; from classic British fare to Caribbean soul food, rich Filipino flavours to Italian and Greek favourites. Local brewery Cronx and Street Cocktails brought the party to life with delicious craft beers and vibrant cocktail menus.
In addition to the food, the festival also featured a live music stage, where local bands and musicians performed throughout the day. The lineup included a mix of genres, from rock and pop to jazz and blues. We were also joined this year by a young violinist who played freestyle and drew the crowd with her captivating talent – the first time she’d ever played a festival!
The festival also offered a delightful mix of activities for attendees of all ages, with face painting and arts and crafts captivating the children’s attention. Meanwhile, street entertainers, including Bumbulum the Fool who mesmerised with his unicycle act, left the crowd in awe. The infectious music this year even lead to spontaneous bursts of dance from the crowds, even the stilt walkers gracefully joined in.
The festival was a truly community-focused event, with local businesses and organisations coming together with great enthusiasm to celebrate Croydon’s unique identity. This year’s festival was also part of This is Croydon – Croydon’s London Borough of Culture programme, a Mayor of London Initiative, presented by Croydon Council and supported by National Lottery and Arts Council England – helping the event showcase the borough’s rich cultural heritage to a wider audience.
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon who attended the event said: “It’s an absolutely amazing event, something I enjoy coming to every year. It highlights what’s great about Croydon – the restaurants, businesses and community spirit. This is one of our London Borough of Culture events and there is so much going on throughout the summer… enjoy your summer in Croydon.”
Zoe Zone, Marketing Executive at London Square Developments who sponsored this year’s festival, said: “It was fantastic to be part of the Croydon Food & Music Festival and meet people from the local and surrounding areas. We love being a part of this vibrant community and it was great to see everyone come together to celebrate what Croydon does well, food and music!”
Onur Hoca of Ice Cream World, a returning trader said: ‘I have been part of the Food Festival for a few years now and I am thrilled to see it grow. This year I saw many familiar faces and met many new ones. I believe festivals like this are important for us, local traders, to build awareness for our businesses but even more so to meet the community we passionately serve. I’m looking forward to providing tasty ice cream for more people next summer!’
Croydon Food and Music Festival 2023 is organised by the independent South Croydon Business Association and creatively delivered by White Label Creative. Event sponsors were Brunswick Property Partners and London Square Developments and were further supported by COSTCO and The HR Dept, whose contributions have allowed the event to grow.