We proudly supported the third Urban Elephant Festival along with Southwark Council, Get Living, Lendlease and L&Q.
Urban Elephant Festival is a celebration of diverse art, music, and dance across four locations that highlights the power of community across an area spanning Elephant Park, Aylesbury and wider Walworth.
Our Aylesbury regeneration team have been involved in the first two years of the festival and our places and estates team and Folio got on board this year, which has been fantastic. They helped create a buzz on social media around the event and you can see some of the community stories on our Instagram page.
The free community festival kicked off on Friday 13 September with a parade and continued with electrifying performances from 13 amazing groups. The celebrations carried on into Saturday with a World on One Street celebration while Sunday saw the World Forum Event. Bolney Meadow’s Baobab Steelband, which has a mix of staff and residents got the crowd energised with three performances at the festival. A band member said: “Seeing us go from nothing to a multi-generational, community band has been so, so wonderful.”
Social economic investment manager at the Aylesbury, Grace Cleary, said: “I felt in previous years that Notting Hill Genesis’s presence was drowned out. By bringing the places and estates’ marketing expertise in we really were able to create sustained programme of social value activities ahead and during the festival. The enthusiasm, creativity and fresh perspective of Folio and places and estates is a splendid example of our departments fusing together and delivering real social value that’s felt by our communities”.
Building a cohort of local volunteers is important for delivering community events and capacity building into the future. The volunteer workshops held at Mentivity House on the Aylesbury Estate have enabled us to welcome 13 volunteers for future events.
With a strong focus on sustainability and active travel, we were proud to see Community Cycleworks deliver workshops and repairs at Walworth Square during the festival. The Urban Elephant Festival is more than just an event; it is a testament to the is a celebration of strength and unity of our community. It also showcases the benefits of us partnering with other organisations, businesses and partners. It brings together people from all walks of life to celebrate art, culture, and the spirit of togetherness.
Head of place branding marketing and communications, Sophie Trotman, spoke alongside the other sponsors and Southwark Mayor Naima Ali.
