London’s largest and best-loved free community festival, the Lambeth Country Show, drew thousands of people to Brockwell Park over the weekend of 7th and 8th June to celebrate the vibrant talents and traditions of both the countryside and the city.
The rain on Saturday dented attendance but didn’t dampen enthusiasm, and, as the sun came out on Sunday, so did people from Lambeth and across the city.
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An estimated 80,000 people attended across the weekend to enjoy a diverse events programme featuring everything from sheep shows, gardening displays and jousting, to headline performances by Loose Ends, and reggae icons Aswad, as well as a lively LatinoLife stage, and even a mass participatory ceilidh.
Further highlights included CJs Birds of Prey show, the ever-popular ‘cuddle corner’ at Vauxhall City Farm, and a host of arts and culture performances such as The Drums of Rastafari, and the Brixton Community Gospel Choir.
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Cllr Donatus Anyanwu, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, said: “I’m delighted that the Lambeth Country Show was a big success this year, and that our communities were able to come out and celebrate the borough we all love.
“We have worked incredibly hard to maintain the country show as a free event, and also to make it a safe event so our young people can let their hair down, relax and have a good time. The show really is the jewel in our annual events calendar.”
The show’s annual vegetable sculpting competition proved as popular as ever and made national and international headlines for its creative and witty entries that covered a whole range of topical subjects, including the papal ‘cornclave’, a ‘tariffic’ butternut squash Donald Trump, and a ‘Mo Salad’ version of the Premier League title-winning football player. The winning entry was ‘Not In My Broc Yard’, a satirical comment on recent local politics.
After another year of top-class family entertainment and a celebration of the diversity and community spirit of Lambeth, London Country Show remains an important and unmissable fixture in London’s cultural landscape.
