For the past three years, OnBlackheath music festival has been a huge success in the local community and beyond. With the release of the festival dates – 9th and 10th of September – locals are again beginning to anticipate the spectacular event. A weekend full of music, food and family fun, there is no better way to round off the summer holiday than to spend time at this unmissable show. 2017 will mark the fourth year of the event.
As the name suggests, the festival takes place on Blackheath, which is situated in south east London between the boroughs of Lewisham and Greenwich. A wide range of artists that will be playing over the two days have been announced, including KT Tunstall, Travis, The Libertines and Metronomy. The official partners for OnBlackheath have also been announced, and will be The Jimmy Mizen Foundation, Absolute Radio, John Lewis and Meantime brewing company. The festival always prides itself on the wide array of delicious food and drinks stalls, and this year it will be no different. There will be a chef’s stage dedicated to providing food masterclasses, which will include celebrity chefs cooking a variety of tasty dishes live for the audience to watch.
However, the OnBlackheath festival is not only for adults to enjoy; there will be a range of family-friendly activities for young children to join in with. This includes various craft activities such as face painting and an interactive colouring wall, and a stage for children’s adventure stories. As well as this, there will be an opportunity to get take part in traditional sports day activities like the egg and spoon race, the three-legged race and even a tug of war. The festival is accessible to all ages, which is one of the most special things about it.
To add to the community feel of the festival, there was even a promotional video made for it, which included people from the local area. A woman from Lewisham, whose son participated in the making of the video, said, “I found it really interesting how they involved children from the community. About 80 children lay down on the heath and spelt out ‘On Blackheath’ with their bodies, and it was filmed using a drone, which I had never seen being used before for filming.”
With all this and more, OnBlackheath 2017 is looking to be a fantastic event, involving all ages in an amazing weekend.
By Raya Milushev, Newstead Wood School
