The free, outdoor festivals will take place in Enfield Town, Palmers Green, Angel Edmonton and Southgate where local performers, artists and community groups will provide entertainment to help shoppers and visitors get into the Christmas spirit. The events will include performances, a jumbo screen, live acoustic music, and Southgate based theatre company, Chickenshed, will provide a programme containing “Tales From the Shed”, extracts from its full Christmas show, street dance, and a DJ set. Chickenshed has also written the borough its own song, ‘We wish you a Merry Enfield’ which is hoped will become a local Christmas hit!
In addition, Enfield Council is funding an enhanced Parade of Lights. The hugely popular parade will take place in Enfield Town on Sunday 5 December and will include entertainment and carol singing at the market square
The Merry Enfield locations are:
4 December, Enfield Town, Library Green, 12-6pm
5 December, Enfield Town Parade of Lights, Palace Gardens and Market Place, 12-6pm
11 December, Palmers Green, Green Lanes, 12-6pm
17 December, Angel Edmonton, Fore Street, 12-6pm
18 December, Southgate, High Street, 12-6pm
All details will be available at www.merryenfield.co.uk
Enfield Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Ian Barnes, said: “Enfield has shown magnificent resilience throughout the pandemic and we continue to encourage everyone to support local businesses by doing their shopping in our town centres. People want their high streets to thrive and we hope these fantastic events, supported by our burgeoning cultural and arts community, will be an incentive to leave the Amazons of the online world behind and to shop local.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our hugely accomplished artists and local talent for once again bringing entertainment to the streets of Enfield, making culture accessible to all. Each event has been a close collaboration with local community and trader associations, and so our gratitude also goes to Enfield Town Traders Association, Palmers Green Business Association, Southgate Community Taskforce, Fore Street for All and the team at the Dugdale Centre.”
Enfield Council has also created a short film called Enfield Actually inspired by the Richard Curtis film “Love Actually”. The film features people from all across the borough with special messages about backing Enfield businesses.
The stars of the film are: Chickenshed Theatre, Claude W Dennis Coffee, Edmonton Green Magazine, Eggfree Cake Box, Emma Clare Hair & Beauty Spa, Enfield Register Office, Enfield Business & Retailers Association, Lincoln’s Patisserie, Little Green Dragon Ale House….and Santa Claus!
The Merry Enfield events are supported by The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (previously The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) Welcome Back Fund, established through a grant from the European Regional Development Fund. This funding is used by Enfield Council to support a safe trading environment for businesses and customers during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and to support the local economy on the road to recovery. More information on Enfield Council’s support for local businesses can be found on the COVID-19 Businesses web page.