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Royal Greenwich Festivals

Royal Greenwich Festivals is our flagship grants programme that supports the delivery of our first Cultural Strategy: Our People, Our Culture, Our Future 

We fund festivals that are free to attend and take place over the summer months in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

We're look for high-quality, exciting, accessible festivals that engage with local community groups and showcase local content, performers and suppliers to help celebrate our diverse communities.  

All festival programmes include workshops or activities and live performances or events.

Applications for 2025 are now closed.

2025 Grant recipients   

Plumstead Make Merry Association

Festival name: 50th Anniversary of Plumstead Make Merry  

Plumstead Make Merry celebrates its 50th anniversary with an extravaganza of live music, dance and drumming performances, food and community stalls, sports and crafts workshops.

Date: Saturday 7 June

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: Plumstead Common, SE18 1QJ  

 

Arts Trust Productions

Bring your picnic blanket and gather your friends and family for a vibrant community event featuring folk music, street arts, creative arts, food and craft markets.

Festival: Summer in the Park  

Date: Sunday 29 June

Time: 1pm to 6pm  

Venue: Maryon Park, Charlton, SE7 8EN  

 

July  

Arts Trust Productions

Bring your picnic blanket and gather your friends and family for a vibrant community event featuring folk music, street arts, creative arts, food and craft markets.

Festival: Summer in the Park  

Date: Saturday 5 July

Time: 1pm to 6pm  

Venue: Gallions Park, Thamesmead, SE28 0HJ 

 

Black Female Entrepreneur Greenwich (BFEG)

There will be a carnival amid Eltham's PARKSfest, which includes masquerade mask workshops, a fashion show, an Afrobeat dance competition, cultural food tastings, and pop-up market stalls.

Festival name: African Masquerade  

Date: Sunday 6 July,

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: PARKSfest, Eltham Park South, SE9 1AH

  

The Bold Melon Collective

Festival: Give or Take performance and workshops  

A family friendly live performance and collage workshop from local LGBTQIA+ artists.

Date: Sunday 6 July,

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: PARKSfest, Eltham Park South, SE9 1AH 

 

TARU Arts

Festival: Kidbrooke Carnival  

Kidbrooke carnival returns with a spectacular parade with music, dance, and food and community stalls and TARU’s much-loved drumming!

Date: Saturday 12 July

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: Pegler Square and Cator Park, SE3 

 

Black Female Entrepreneur Greenwich (BFEG)

Festival name: Nigerian Cultural Festival  

BFEG’s festival joins Kidbrooke Carnival, with masquerade mask workshops, fashion show, Afrobeat dance competition, cultural food tastings and pop-up market stalls.

Date: Saturday, 12 July,

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: Kidbrooke Carnival, Pegler Square and Cator Park, SE3 

 

Black Female Entrepreneur Greenwich (BFEG)

Festival name:  African Masquerade  

A carnival amid Bostall Gardens PARKSfest, with masquerade mask workshops, a fashion show, an Afrobeat dance competition, cultural food tastings and pop-up market stalls.

Date: Sunday 13 July

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: PARKSfest, Bostall Gardens, Abbey Wood, SE2 0TQ  

 

The Bold Melon Collective

Festival: Queer Migrations exhibition  

LGBTQIA+ artists explore the theme of 'Queer Migrations' in this innovative exhibition.

Date: Monday 14 July to Sunday 10 August

Time: 10am to 5pm  

Venue: Firepit Arts Gallery and Studios, Greenwich, SE10 0XX  

 

The Bold Melon Collective

Festival: Queer Migrations opening event  

Queer Migrations' exclusive exhibition launch will include live music, performances, and a Q&A session.

Date: Thursday 17 July

Time: 7 to 9pm  

Venue: Firepit Arts Gallery and Studios, Greenwich, SE10 0XX  

 

BME Volunteers

Festival: Greenwich Food Festival  

A celebration of food, culture, and community, with cooking competitions, food tastings, visual arts workshops, and advice on supporting local health and wellbeing initiatives.

Date: Saturday 26 July

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: Glyndon Community Centre and Green, Plumstead, SE18 7LB  

 

August  

Arc & You

Festival: Nigerian Cultural Finesse  

An afternoon of cultural displays, dance, seminars, theatre, and the showcase of a new documentary on Nigerian and British culture.

Date: Saturday 2 August

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: Highbrook Road Open Space, Kidbrooke, SE3 9QL  

 

Arc & You

Festival: Nigerian Cultural Finesse  

An afternoon of cultural displays, dance, seminars, theatre, and the showcase of a new documentary on Nigerian and British culture.

Date: Saturday 9 August

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: The Middle Park at Middle Park Avenue, SE9 5SE  

 

Arc & You

Festival: Nigerian Cultural Finesse 

Enjoy an afternoon of cultural displays, dance, seminars, theatre, and the showcase of a new documentary on Nigerian and British culture. 

Date: Saturday 16 August,

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: Abbeywood Park, Abbey Wood, SE2 9QQ (new location) 

 

Festival.org

Festival: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) Above and Beyond  

Opening the festival’s 30th anniversary with a UK premiere, French parkour artists Cie Lézards Bleus (France) will give a performance of heart-stopping, roof hopping. Gaze up in awe as eight performers embark on a breathtaking journey across landmark buildings in Woolwich. With new music by Roma Yagnik and a finale set from Citizens of the World Choir.

Date: Friday 22 August,

Time: 7pm  

Venue: Beresford Square Woolwich, SE18 6AR 

 

Arc & You

Festival: Nigerian Cultural Finesse  

Saturday 23 August, 12 noon to 6pm  

Eaglesfield Park, Eaglesfield Road, Shooters Hill, SE18 3BX  

Enjoy an afternoon of cultural displays, dance, seminars, theatre, and the showcase of a new documentary on Nigerian and British culture.  

 

Festival.org

Festival: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) Greenwich Fair  

Family-friendly street theatre, circus, dance and games, in a packed programme of 12 raucous shows framed by the best view of London.

Date: Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August,

Time: 1pm to 7pm, various shows all day  

Venue: General Wolfe Piazza, Observatory Hill, Greenwich Park, SE10 8XJ  

 

Festival.org

Festival: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) Turning Worlds  

This year’s GDIF theme, 'Above and Beyond', is interpreted through a series of four trailblazing collaborations between engineering, technology and performance.

Date: Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August,

Time: various times  

Venue: Design District Greenwich Peninsula, SE10 0SQ  

 

September  

Festival.org

Festival: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) Fragment of Us  

Celebrating the endless possibilities of Black masculinity, this world premiere performance by leading Black theatre company Talawa with acclaimed Black dance company Fubunation, directed by award-winning artist Sonia Hughes features fluid movement and poignant poetry to reveal snapshots of joy, struggle, love and loss.

Date: Thursday 4 September

Time: 4pm and 6:30pm  

Venue: General Gordon Square, Woolwich, SE18 6FH  

Festival.org

Festival: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) Go Grandad, Go! 

This joyous celebration of intergenerational family relationships and Caribbean culture by company DHW combines hip hop dance and storytelling. With relatable characters, infectious moves and fully integrated access, this is a feel-good show for all ages.

Date: Thursday 4 September

Time: 1:30pm and 3:30pm  

Venue: General Gordon Square, Woolwich, SE18 6FH  

 

Festival.org

Festival: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) The Weight of Water 

This spectacular water-based event from Dutch company Panama Pictures sees six incredible performers struggle for survival on an unpredictable floating stage. The stakes are high in this modern parable of global warming, which merges dance, circus and live music on water to nail-biting effect. 

Date: Friday 5 and Saturday 6 September

Time: 2:30pm and 6:30pm  

Venue: Birchmere Lake, Epstein Road, Thamesmead, SE28 8DQ  

 

Woolwich Works

Festival: Brassworks Festival  

A music festival in the sunny courtyard, including a community brass parade across Woolwich town centre.

Date: Saturday 6 September

Time: 12 noon to 7pm  

Venue: Woolwich Town Centre and Woolwich Works, Royal Arsenal, SE18 3PU  

 

The Bold Melon Collective

Festival: Give or Take performance and workshops

A family-friendly live performance and collage workshops from local LGBTQIA artists.  

Date: Sunday 7 September

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: PARKSfest, East Greenwich Pleasaunce, Chevening Road, Greenwich SE10 0LB   

 

Tramshed

Festival: ‘Whodunnit?’ Cabaret musical  

Reach Theatre Company will stage their "Whodunnit?" cabaret musical alongside a specially commissioned performance by an artist.

Date: Sunday 7 September

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: PARKSfest, East Greenwich Pleasaunce, Chevening Road, Greenwich SE10 0LB 

 

TARU Arts

Festival: 10th Anniversary of Woolwich Carnival  

Date: Saturday 13 September

Time: 12 noon to 8pm

Venue: General Gordon Square, Beresford Square and Woolwich Arsenal, SE18  

Carnival parade with music, dance, food, and community stalls.

 

Black Female Entrepreneur Greenwich (BFEG)

Festival: Nigerian Cultural Festival  

The African masquerade joins up with the Woolwich Carnival with masquerade mask workshops, a fashion show, an Afrobeat dance competition, cultural food tastings and pop-up market stalls.

Date: Saturday 13 September

Time: 12 noon to 8pm  

Venue: Woolwich Carnival, General Gordon Square, Beresford Square and Woolwich Arsenal, SE18  

 

Tramshed

Festival: ‘Whodunnit?’ Cabaret musical  

Reach Theatre Company will stage their "Whodunnit?" cabaret musical and a specially commissioned artist performance.

Date: Sunday 14 September

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: PARKSfest, Southwood Park, New Eltham, SE9 

 

The Bold Melon Collective

Festival: Give or Take performance and workshops

A family-friendly live performance and collage workshop from local LGBTQIA+ artists.

Date: Sunday 14th September

Time: 12 noon to 6pm  

Venue: PARKSfest, Southwood Park, Southwood Road, New Eltham, SE9 3QE  

Don’t miss out on a free summer of fun with Royal Greenwich Festivals! Tag us in your photos @royal_greenwich using the hashtag #RGF2025