Join us at Blackbird Leys Park for a vibrant free community festival, full of exciting activities, delicious affordable food and live performances that bring everyone together in celebration. Don’t miss out on the fun!
MUSIC, DANCE, ART, CRAFT, SPORT, FOOD, THEATRE
The Leys Festival is back and bigger than ever! Get ready for an unforgettable day full of music, food and fun for all the family.
This is a very special collaboration between a large group of dedicated residents and a small team from the Cultural Programme who have co-created a warm welcome of a day celebrating all the creativity and energy of Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys. The theme once again is One People, One Place. We hope you’ll join us for a brilliant day in the park.
Highlights to look forward to:
Music, Dance & Spoken Word: Local experienced and first-time performers from Reggae to Hip Hop to Spoken Word, Folk Song and Afro-Beat, including Lionhair and the Starling Sessions
A Dance Battle; master your moves and get ready to put BBL on the dance map (led by Tia Denton)
Loud Lab, new creative work by young artists in collaboration with Rawz, Kingsley (Inspire Sounds) and MES Collective
Affordable Food: Delicious food from around the world, all £5 and under. A chance to hear the story of each recipe, and new this year, The Leys Junior Bake-Off!
Arts and Crafts: Make a carnival mask, make a memory and hang it in the trees, help make our Festival Blackbird fly or contribute to our community mural by Easy and Stu of MES Collective.
Family Fun: Bouncy Castles, Spacehoppers, a Cardboard City and Traditional Games including a Tug-of-War, Dominoes and Board Games
Sports: Sign up for football coaching from Oxford United FC and the Blackbirds, rugby coaching from Oxford Quins, or learn to roller skate, or play basketball with The Hoops.
One People One Place: Learn about the history of the estates, including the Windrush story, and become part of a living archive of our hopes and dreams
Quieter Space: Relax with a cup of tea, learn how to crochet or learn how to bowl with the Bowls Club.
And for the first time this year….
Finding the Spindleberry: join us for a new piece of promenade theatre celebrating the spirit of the Leys, by Natty Marks Samuels and Erica Whyman. Go back in time and meet some of the characters and ideas that make this place a proud and inspiring community.
FINDING THE SPINDELBERRY is a celebration of the past and the future of the Leys community, involving artistic moments that explore local memories and history. It is a short (25-40 min) promenade theatre piece bringing the spirit of the Leys to life. Designed for a small audience of 15-20 people wearing headphones and taking place at 4 different locations, audiences will walk through the streets of Blackbird Leys, guided by actors appearing at different keys sites, to complete a quest to find a spindleberry…
There will be 6 performances throughout the day – sign up for free in the Bell Tent on the day – and also check your bingo cards!
If you live in Blackbird Leys or Greater Leys you are very welcome to come to our Festival meetings; the last one before this year’s Festival is on:
Thursday 3rd July 6-8 pm at Activate Learning, Cuddesdon Way, BBL
Co-produced by the Leys Community and the Cultural Programme at the University of Oxford.
