Imagine popping to the shops to buy some shoes and finding yourself faced with the ping pong table of truth and a dubstep keyboard made from fruit. 

That was the wacky scenario for people at the Whitgift Centre over the weekend who found themselves in Croydon’s Fun Palace.

As part of a nationwide movement, it aimed to encourage audience participation and teach people artistic skills they did not know they had.

Events running throughout the weekend included an ice cream parlour where people could mix their own flavour, a crafts workshop, dancing, a planetarium and sessions where people could embrace the technical side of Croydon by learning about a 3D modelling program.

Croydon Fun Palace maker Katie Taylor said: “People said they had never seen something like this in the area before which was nice.

“Part of it was about celebrating what we have here.

“There is a lazy negative stereotype about Croydon but we have fantastic stuff and let’s celebrate that.”