SUSTAINABLE FLOWER FESTIVAL 16 – 18 June Floral feast of locally grown flowers
The word Waterloo conjures up a number of images – Napoleon’s final defeat, Europe’s busiest railway station, Abba winning Eurovision - probably not a Sustainable Flower Festival. But that is what will take centre stage for three days mid-way (16 – 18 June) through this year’s Waterloo Festival in June.
Now in its seventh year, the Festival is breaking new ground and raising the highly topical issue of where our cut flowers come from by creating displays of plants and shrubs to celebrate this year’s festival theme of ‘Sacred Spaces’. The opening of this year’s Chelsea Flower Show raised the importance of supporting UK plant producers and British Flowers Week (19 – 25 June) shines the spotlight on the breadth and beauty of home-grown flowers. All the Waterloo Festival exhibits will be created using locally sourced plants.
The Waterloo Festival takes place in St John’s Church, the fine Greek Revival-style church with its resplendent portico across the road from the station and IMAX cinema. This first Sustainable Flower Festival is being created by Belinda Taylor and a team of members of the congregation and local flower enthusiasts and arrangers with sustainability very much in mind.
As Giles Goddard the vicar and festival chairman explains, “We are pretty unusual here at St John’s, as an inner city church with a large ‘Green Flag Award’ garden where all are welcome to enjoy and relax. It is a green lung for local people, commuters and visitors throughout the year, but for three days in June we are bringing the garden into the church with five ‘flower stations’ under this year’s ‘Sacred Spaces’ theme. There is a sixth in the outdoor 'sacred space', the churchyard garden, where garden sponsors MSMR Architects have designed and installed the elegant Waterloo Bridge Bench, unveiled for the Festival.
He continues, “As a church we place a lot of emphasis on the links between faith and the environment and this year’s festival theme will feature this link in a wide range of events. We’re a truly community church with a strong local following, but we also have a fantastic location which means we can share it and welcome everyone from far and wide. I think a flower festival is a really exciting way of extending our programme and introducing a new feature to Waterloo.”
In the first station there will be flowers to aid meditation and contemplation, where the artist and teacher Chris Clarke will be inviting visitors to join him, using drawing or other techniques to capture the spirit of the exhibits on Friday and Saturday between 10 and 12 noon. Other parts of the church will be decorated by floristry students from Lewisham and Southwark College and Patricia Ellis, the floral designer from Southwark Cathedral. Roots and Shoots Community Garden and Lambeth Scouts will be displaying edible plans and herbs whilst Gary Anderson, a member of the congregation who advises schools on the needs for children with special educational needs and disabilities, is producing a display bringing together flowers which aid prayer and meditation to the Lady Chapel. There will be led meditations on Friday at 11am (led by Radio 2’s Roger Royle) - 1.00 and 3pm; Saturday 12.30-1.00 pm.
The Sustainable Flower Festival, which is free admission, but welcomes donations for festival charities, is just one of many attractions at this year’s Waterloo Festival of music, art, poetry and dance. The Waterloo Festival runs from 1 – 25 June and the Sustainable Flower Festival will be open from 16 – 18 June, 10am – 6pm. For further details visit www.waterloofestival.com
ENDS
St John’s Church SE1 8TY and garden on the south end of Waterloo Bridge, opposite Waterloo Station and beside the IMAX and close to the Southbank.
Full programme of events and bookings: www.waterloofestival.com
For press tickets, interviews, and invitation to the launch party on 15 June contact: Sarah Dallas, [email protected]. Tel: 07980 224 632
For Sustainable Flower Festival information contact David Shreeve or Lindsay Swan, [email protected] or [email protected] Tel: 0207 591 3111; 07961 181982
For British Flowers Week information contact Claire Levi, [email protected]. Tel: 020 7501 3495
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