No one can be as delighted as me to know that Croydon is having another festival in the borough, but I would like to take issue with the idea that Ambition is the only festival in Croydon.

Croydon has a huge number of festivals. I quickly put in a search and immediately came up with festivals involving comedy, heritage, the performing arts, film, food, folk and blues all happening in Croydon annually.

They are run by a variety of businesses and organisations who are committed to Croydon and its ever growing arts scene.

In addition there are the amazing community festivals such as Purley, Crystal Palace, South Norwood Arts Festival, Addington and Addiscombe carnivals, and the many others that have emerged to fill the void after the much loved World Party and Mela were stopped.

These community festivals are made possible by the sheer handwork and determination of the people involved in them who are hugely invested in Croydon as a borough and are mainly financed through sponsorship and fundraising efforts and deserve to be recognised for the great events they are.

We all need to change the perception of Croydon being a cultural wasteland and start shouting out about how much is going on in Croydon and what a great arts scene it has.

Croydon – the City of Festivals has quite a nice ring

FIONA LIPSCOMBE
By email