Elephant Park, the exciting food, retail and residential hub in the heart of Elephant & Castle, is delighted to announce a festive programme of in-person and virtual events to celebrate the week before Christmas. Elephant Park’s thriving creative community has come together with a curated schedule of festive Street Performances and the launch of Elephant Sessions virtual festival alongside two new hospitality openings just in time for Christmas.
Street Performances
From Thursday 17th December, Elephant Park’s Sayer Street will play host to an eclectic schedule of street performances, from carol singers to a Caribbean steel band. Visitors are invited to explore Elephant Park’s independent retailers or sit back and enjoy the performances from the comfort of The Living Room @ Sayer Street’s heated outdoor seating.
Solo accordion player Collette O’Leary will be kicking things off on Thursday (4pm-6pm), weaving an intriguing tapestry of music from Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France and Eastern Europe, with zest, vitality and cosmopolitan taste, followed on Friday (4pm-6pm) by London’s most requested Caribbean Steel Band – The Carribé Steel Band. On Saturday (from 12pm), Elephant Park-based RunDemRadio will be bringing unheard voices to the streets, followed (4pm-6pm) by The Trinity Carol Singers & Dickensian Ding Dong, performing traditional and contemporary carols. Sunday 20th December will see The Brazen Brass Band, incorporating the New Orleans brass band tradition alongside swing, Latin, Caribbean, gospel, blues and, most importantly, a sense of festive fun, joined by a stilt walking Fairy atop a Christmas tree!
For the full schedule, see elephantpark.co.uk
Elephant Sessions
For those who can’t make it to Elephant Park, Elephant Sessions are delighted to announce the launch of their free virtual community festival beginning on Saturday 12th December. A jam-packed programme showcasing the best of Elephant & Castle’s thriving creative community, including exclusive masterclasses, demos and performances to get everyone in the holiday spirit.
Five pre-recorded sessions will walk you through making your own mulled wine with Bobo Social, wreath-making with The Nunhead Gardener and a caribbean recipe demo from Tasty Jerk as well as a ‘Couch-to-Christmas’ fitness programme from Our Parks and a Children’s Christmas Carol Concert from Tigers Nursery. On Thursday 17th December, local artist Olivia Huntingford will host a live Mindful Drawing masterclass from 7pm followed by a live DJ Set from RunDemRadio on Friday 18th December at 7pm.
Elephant Sessions will take place for one week each month between December – March. The first edition kicks off on 12th December, featuring new, exciting content every day – there’ll be lots to choose from. Some events will take place live via Zoom, and all will be recorded and featured on our website.
For the full schedule and to view the sessions, please visit: www.elephantsessions.co.uk
Kristy Lansdown, Project Director of Elephant Park for Lendlease, said: “Our Christmas programme has been designed to help residents and visitors to Elephant Park celebrate safely but joyfully. Some fantastic street performances will be taking place as well as a virtual community festival that we hope will allow people to experience this very special part of London whether they are at home or here in person”.
New Openings
The festivities are accompanied by the launch of two exciting new members of the Elephant Park Community.
Purveyor of fine Italian Street Food, Sugo, brings Italian delights straight from the streets of Italy. Making their mark on London with their food trucks, Sugo has become well known for serving delicious and innovative Italian dishes across the city. But now the time has come for Sugo to set down their roots and make a home for themselves at Elephant Park. As well as offering a selection of meatballs, paninis, grain bowls and sides, the Sugo team also deliver orders locally on their custom bicycles.
Award-winning coffee company and social enterprise Change Please have brought life-changing coffee to Elephant Park with their third site. Providing training, Living Wage employment and support with housing, finances and therapy to help people experiencing homelessness move forward, 100% of the profits of their award-winning coffee goes towards ending homelessness.
With its ideal location in Zone 1 of central London, Elephant Park is set to cement its status as a destination for food and drink lovers in the capital. The development is already emerging as one of the most prominent foodie hubs south of the river, adding to the existing eclectic global food offerings found in areas such as Brixton, Peckham and Camberwell. Elephant Park keeps true to the core spirit of Elephant & Castle, housing an impressive line-up of local traders and businesses, serving a range of international cuisines and offerings that reflect the lively character of this diverse neighbourhood.
