Croydon’s rooftop beach is back for a third summer, bringing real sand, rides, games, sweet treats, and a new adults-only evening experience to Centrale Shopping Centre.
Costa del Croydon opens today (August 7) and will run daily until August 31 on Level 3A of Centrale’s rooftop car park.
Your Local Guardian was given an exclusive first look at the attraction ahead of its public opening, where visitors enter through a sparkling turquoise archway and onto a rainbow-coloured rooftop transformed into a seaside-style getaway.
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A large sandpit is at the centre of the site, with palm trees, beach huts, hammocks, beanbags, and shaded seating helping to create a summer escape against Croydon’s skyline.
Families can take on one another at giant chess, try the mini go-kart track, bounce on the trampolines, and enjoy fairground games, including a traditional stall where players can win prizes.
There are pink, blue, and green picnic benches, while food and drink traders have ice creams, slushies, loaded doughnuts, sweets, and refreshments.
Local businesses will be a bigger focus this year, with new Meltin’ Memories on Allders Parade joining the line-up with its own ice cream van.
The Thirst Trap Bar has returned to offer drinks from a converted blue trailer.
Organiser Dominique Stagg, marketing, PR, and events manager at Centrale & Whitgift, said the attraction had been shaped by feedback from previous visitors.
She said: "Every year we receive feedback from the event from previous years.
"I try and encourage as many people as possible to share their thoughts, their feelings, what they like, what they didn’t like, and what they think should be added.
"Some things, obviously, I can’t do.
"But there are some things where, for example, people said we should have a changing room, so I introduced a changing room."
The major new addition is The Beach Club, adults-only events running from 5 pm to 8 pm every Thursday.
There will be DJs, cocktails, and a different theme each week, including garage, dancehall, sip-and-paint, music bingo, and drag-hosted lip-sync battles.
The Thursday programme will also feature local singers, musicians, DJs, and bands through Croydon Enterprise Zone’s Love Me Croydon sessions.
Costa del Croydon has welcomed more than 55,000 people across its first two years, according to Domique, who said she had not expected it to become so popular.
Tickets are free and released weekly, and visitors can pre-book for a chosen session, while walk-in spaces are also available each day.
Family sessions run from 11.30 am to 3 pm and 3.30 pm to 7 pm from Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Sunday; on Thursdays, the family session is noon to 4 pm before The Beach Club begins at 5 pm. For more information visit here.
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