Poor Peckham. It really doesn’t have the best time of it in the press. Shootings. Stabbings. The odd ministerial walkabout, with a lot of head and hand shaking involved. It has become the sort of place which causes passers by to lock their doors, crank up the volume and accelerate.
But the citizens of this much maligned southern resort are fighting back. This week marks the fourth annual I LOVE PECKHAM Festival, which amounts to a whole week of residents, local businesses and artists telling the rest of the world that they do indeed love Peckham and yah-boo-sucks to its detractors.
In fact Peckham is possibly one of the capital’s best kept secrets, with more artists, writers and musicians per hectare than any other bit of London (actually we made that up, but it is one of Britain’s most creative hotspots according to some survey or other).
This weekend (10th–12th August) there are events galore: a rolling street festival on the Saturday, free outdoor film screenings on the Sunday, and lots of singin’ n’ dancing and all round jolly stuff. Londonist is especially tickled by the ‘artists in shop windows’ competition, which sees 30 artists working in 30 shop windows in the area. Shops and shopping can be pretty boring, let’s face it – but if you’ve got an original artwork or even installation to amuse you while you’re doing your laundry or getting the dog waxed, it kind of makes things more fun.
By SallyB
