Waltham Forest – home of the ‘burb they like to call Awesomestow – been crowned the first ‘Borough of Culture’ for 2019.
Thanks to main man Sadiq Khan, the likes of Hackney, Harrow and Haringey have been bidding for more than £1 million of funding to fight for their right to get cultured. 22 boroughs in all conjured up arty schemes and creative programmes designed to make culture a big part of their year. [Photo: ]
And this morning, Waltham Forest was chosen by the Mayor’s office as the inaugural Borough of Culture! Their bid, which was published here and supported by 14,000 Walthamites, promises a cavalcade of cultural catnip to draw in people from all over the city. There’ll be ‘waist high carpet of light molecules on the marshes, giant laser tuning forks in Epping Forest,’ and a film fest in Leytonstone dedicated to local boy Alfred Hitchcock.
And that’s just the start of their £5.75 million programme, designed not just to attract culture-vultures like our readers, but to unite local communities, inspire young people and create new opportunities for makers across the borough.
Their ambitious bid was supported by all sorts of partners including Barbican, Soho Theatre, Art Night, Eurostar, Airbnb and, oh yeah… Secret London!
Additionally, Brent was selected for the LBoC award for 2020. The London Borough of Culture Award is all part of a master plan to strengthen London’s reputation as an internationally-renowned powerhouse of culture. Boroughs were judged on not only their creativity, but also their ability to put the community at the forefront of their vision and, ultimately, how they planned to bring about change to the borough, and hopefully create a long-lasting legacy.