Festivals & Events
Making a difference
Putting on something new, exciting and unexpected is one sure fire way of creating a lasting impression and that is precisely what lay at the heart of our festivals and events’ strategy for 2015-2016.
Delivered with support and financial assistance from key partners both within and outside the town centre, our events once again succeeded in galvanizing the business and local communities and helped to foster a sense of pride in the town. We also supported the delivery of several high profile events throughout the year, helping to raise the town’s profile as a great venue for sports, arts and cultural activities. From the unusual and exotic offerings of our three four-day continental street markets to the crowd-pulling spectacle of some of the world’s biggest sporting events and seasonal celebrations, our dynamic events brought free fun and entertainment to the centre of town, creating a lively, memorable atmosphere and increasing footfall by as much as 20%. Our Street LIVE! entertainment moved up a gear during the year, following the launch of a new, collaborative initiative between Croydon BID, Croydon Council and local
licensed venues, designed to support the delivery of live quality music entertainment in the town centre in the evening. As a result, the sounds of music filled the air on twelve separate occasions across the year, as some of the country’s best street musicians around treated shoppers and visitors to a vast and varied range of foottapping music, while audiences also had the chance to try their hand at a range of sporting challenges and fun and games, organised to coincide with the 2015 Rugby World Cup and in support of Sport Relief. As ever, the highlight of the year was our star-studded Christmas lights switch-on event, marking the official start of the festive season here in Croydon. Headlined, once again by stars from the Fairfield Halls’ Christmas pantomime, the event featured an array of talented local performers and street entertainers, helping to attract increased footfall of up to 12% in the town’s shopping centres.
32
5,000
12%
12,000
days of events programmed during the year
increase in footfall in the town’s shopping centres at lights switch-on
in town for the Christmas lights switch-on countdown
20%
increase in footfall as a result of some of our events
spectators turned out to watch the Croydon leg of the Pearl Izumi Cycle Tour
£780
raised through our fund raising efforts in aid of Sport Relief
19