Costa del Croydon is back for a third year with an adults-only beach club, and we spoke to the woman behind the popular summer attraction.
Dominique Stagg launched Costa del Croydon in 2024, transforming the rooftop of Centrale Shopping Centre’s multi-storey car park into a sandy seaside destination.
The free attraction has now welcomed more than 55,000 visitors across its first two years, with a number of new additions for its third year.
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Dominique told the Your Local Guardian: "I never expected it to be as popular, well-received in Croydon.
"I just wanted to deliver for the people, and obviously it’s what everyone wanted."
The Croydon-based events organiser said the attraction was created to give local people something positive to enjoy, particularly families who may not be able to afford a trip to the coast or a summer holiday.
Dominique said she also wanted Costa del Croydon to challenge the borough’s often negative reputation.
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She said: "I live in Croydon and I work in Croydon, and I wanted to do something for the community that would make them smile.
"Croydon always gets a bad reputation.
"You see it everywhere, and it’s always from people who aren’t from Croydon."
She believes Costa del Croydon has helped show visitors that there is more to the borough than its reputation suggests.
Dominique said: "What Costa del Croydon does is it makes people realise that there are some positive things going on in Croydon.
"We’ve had national media reporting on this, and some people have travelled from up north to come down to spend the day in Costa del Croydon, and then off the back of that day, they realised, ‘You know what, Croydon’s not actually that bad.’"
For Dominique, making the event free remains an important part of its appeal.
She wanted families to be able to visit multiple times during the summer without worrying about the cost of a day out.
She said: "Especially if they don’t have access to outside space or they can’t afford to travel to a beach or go on holiday over the summer.
"As a parent, it’s really hard to find something for kids to do over the six-week holiday that doesn’t cost the earth.
"So I wanted to make it accessible, so anyone could come and enjoy it several times over the summer."
Visitors can pre-book a session online or turn up on the day, with walk-in spaces available at every session.
But while the basic idea of Costa del Croydon has remained the same, Dominique has continued to change the event based on feedback from visitors.
She personally reads feedback from previous years and uses it to decide what can be introduced.
One of this year’s new additions is a changing room, after visitors suggested the attraction needed one.
The biggest change this year, however, is the introduction of adults-only nights.
Dominique said: "Lots of adults who came went, ‘You know what? This would be really cool if there was just an adult night where it’s just adults, no kids.’
"So, I’m like, I think we can do that. It took 12 months to kind of do it, but we’ve done it.
"There’s not a lot of night time economy in Croydon at the moment. Like we’ve kind of lost that.
"I kind of had the same vision for the adult nights of, ‘If I create something for adults of Croydon, will they come?’"
Each adult night has a different theme, with DJs, drag lip-sync battles and a dancehall-themed evening among the entertainment.
The nights are also being used to showcase local talent, with the Croydon Enterprise Zone supporting acts through its Love Me: Croydon Sessions.
Dominique said the programme would give local singers, musicians, DJs and bands the opportunity to perform.
She said: "I’m a small business owner as well, and I want to deliver something not only for Croydon but also to support local creatives in the area."
The event’s food offering has also expanded this year, with more local independent businesses joining the attraction.
These include local traders from Surrey Street Market, as well as Meltin’ Memories, which opened on the new Allders Parade at the end of last year.
And while Costa del Croydon has now become a familiar part of the borough’s summer, Dominique said there is still a huge amount of work behind the scenes.
She has been running events for more than 20 years and describes herself as "a grafter".
Dominique said: "Everything is hard work.
"I’m always doing something, making sure everyone’s happy, and that’s just in my nature as an event organiser.
"I think I’ll always work hard to try and create something that I believe in, and I believe it’s right for a community.
"I live in Croydon, I work in Croydon, and I know this is going to work, and it will be right.
"I’ve always just pushed through with that vision to make it succeed."
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