One thing I really missed about London when I was in Vancouver, as strange as it may sound, is the fact that you can enjoy an alcoholic beverage outdoors without risking a fine. Whereas in Canada, drinking alcohol outside of pubs, in the streets or in public places is generally not permitted, in London the rules are a lot less strict. In summer especially, people flock out front of the pubs to enjoy their pints and a street festival without beer is pretty much unthinkable. The free-of-charge Greenwich Urban Village Fete was my first outdoor summer event this year and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Greenwich Urban Village Fete was held for the first time in 2015 and brings together a craftsmenship, artists, food and drink. Whilst waiting for my friends to arrive at North Greenwich station, I start the sunny day by wandering from booth to booth, sampling everything from lemonades, wines and chutneys to delicious cheeses from Wildes Cheese, an independent artisan cheese making company who create their own cheeses rather than reproducing others. Outside of Craft London, one of my favourite London microbreweries, the Camden Town Brewery, have erected a little tab where they sell their signature Camden Hells Lager and Camden Pale Ale, so I just grab one before I continue my stroll.
In the centre of the market, a group of street dancers have started an interesting musical experience: The Folk Dance Remixed ensemble dance in colourful costumes, combining traditional fiddle music with bass guitar and beat box. It sounds great and is really uplifting to watch. I watch their show for the best part of half an hour before I’m joined by my friends and we head over to the grass to lie in the sun for a bit.
Coming from the area just after the entrance to of the Urban Village Fete, which hosts a lot of food-related booths on the pavement, I get to a greener part of the festival where a mix of all sorts of people – young, old, families – enjoy the sunny day sitting on wooden benches and tables or lying in the grass with their drinks, most of them in front of the two DJ booths. One of the bars is shaped like a London double-decker bus and next to the space we have secured in the grass for our little group, there is also a gin bar, offering refreshing and summery gin cocktails which I certainly can’t say no to. We spend the remainder of our Sunday lying in the grass, chatting, listening to the music and enjoying our drinks until the sun sets and the fete finishes at 7 pm. This little quirky event is definitely worth a visit for the years to come.
