Maryon Park Picnic 2023

Dates and times

Sunday 25 June, 13:00 – 17:00

Location

Maryon Park
Maryon Road,
London
SE7 8EN

Price

FREE (no booking required)

Maryon Park Picnic. An illustration of Maryon Park

Join us for an afternoon of family friendly performances, workshops, games and community fun at the Maryon Park Picnic 2023!

Following the success of last year’s event, we are once again bringing you professional and community performances, interactive games and workshops in the beautiful Charlton-situated park.

This year’s exciting event is hosted by André Bright. The line-up includes:

12:30 TARU Arts drumming circle

13:00 The Mary Lou Revue – Bandstand Cabaret
A celebration of swing, jazz, big band, vintage Hollywood musicals and vaudeville.

14:00 Jive Dance Workshop with BBC Strictly Come Dancing’s Joanne Clifton
Learn to jive with one of the best dance teachers around!

14:30 Costa Rica in the UK
A beautiful display of Costa Rican culture. Get ready to join in!

15:00 Utopia Cheer
Energetic cheerleading involving stunts, gymnastics and dance.

15:10 Beeja Dance
Joyful Bollywood dance.

15:30 Feet Off the Ground – Creature Comforts
A family friendly outdoor dance performance featuring a mysterious four-legged creature.

16:10 GD Collective
Greenwich Dance’s performance company.

16:15 School of SOS
A group of empowered women ‘bossing’ the stage to pop and R’n’B.

16:20 Firefly Fitness UK
Local instructor Tatiana puts us through our funky dancehall paces

16:30 TARU Arts
Brazilian drumming, mask making and a grand finale parade for all to take part in!

Plus games, ice cream, face painting, a second-hand uniform shop from Windrush Primary School, a book swap with St Thomas Tuesday Group, a treasure hunt led by Friends of Maryon Park, stalls by The Village Green Grocer, Charlton Society, South East London Slingers, Barre and Baby, Firefly Fitness and Greenwich Pantry, a bar run by The Green Goddess pub, info sessions with the Metropolitan Police Youth Engagement Team, football fun from Charlton Athletic and a raffle!

Don’t forget to pack a picnic!

The Maryon Park Picnic is part of Summer in the Park, a Greenwich Dance and Arts Trust Productions project which is supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, Royal Greenwich Festivals, Peabody and The Royal Parks.

Illustrations by Keith Hau

Picnic Inspiration

The Perfect Picnic - Charlton Bakehouse. Some delicious looking sourdough bread

The Perfect Picnic – Charlton Bakehouse

Festivals | 22 June 2023

The Perfect Picnic - Rare Italian Wine. A bottle of Fuorilemura

The Perfect Picnic – Rare Italian Wine

Festivals | 16 May 2023

The Perfect Picnic. Copper and Ink Blackheath. A man in chef's whites and round rimmed glasses smiles next to a woman with red hair, a smiling face and scarf tied in a bow on top of her head

The Perfect Picnic – Copper & Ink

Festivals | 02 May 2023

Who's Who

An Evening with Joanne Clifton. A headshot of a smiling woman with long blonde hair.

Joanne Clifton

Joanne Clifton was most recently seen playing the role of Jacqueline in Windfall, at the Southwark Playhouse. Prior to this, she has played Morticia Addams in The Addams Family, UK Tour, Berthe and Fastrada in Pippin, at The Garden Theatre, Janet in the No. 1 UK Tour of The Rocky Horror Show, Alex Owens in the No. 1 UK Tour of Flashdance, and Dale Tremont in Top Hat, where she received her second Offie nomination. Her first was for her acting debut as the Streetwalker in Iriving Berlin’s Face the Music.” 

Joanne is perhaps best known for her time on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. After winning the World Professional Showdance Champion and the European Professional Ballroom Championship, she joined the show as a professional dancer. During her time on the show she performed in the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour, won the Christmas Special with McFly’s Harry Judd, and went on to win the glitterball trophy as the 2016 champion with her partner Ore Oduba. 

Joanne’s further credits include the UK Tour of Burn The Floor – Reunion Tour, the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, at the Sheffield Lyceum and The Grove Theatre in Dunstable, the Fairy in Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury and Friday Night is Music Night, on BBC Radio 2.   

The Mary Lou Revue

The Mary Lou Revue

Marie-Louise Flexen (aka Mary Lou) performs a variety of different dance styles, including Charleston, tap and swing. She sings a variety of cabaret and jazz classics. She trained at London Contemporary Dance School and now has over 25 years’ professional experience in the UK as a contemporary dance artist and performer. Steve Skinley (aka Slim Ditty) is a crooner singing classic Swing Jazz, Big Band and Easy Listening tunes from the 1920s through to the 1970s. He also performs and writes as part of Curious Company, an event theatre and outdoor arts company. Mary Lou and Slim have been performing as the Mary Lou Revue since 2010 at a variety of venues and occasions, including theatres, festivals, fairs, parties, care homes, hospitals, community events and memory cafes. They have previously received support from Arts council England in their arts and wellbeing projects.

twitter.com/MLRevue
instagram.com/themarylourevue
facebook.com/marylourevue
themarylourevue.com
Patricia Zafra and Robyn Holder

Feet off the Ground

Feet off the Ground creates transformative, relatable outdoor dance productions which comment on socio-political issues through a feminist lens. The work reflects the company’s collective belief in the therapeutic benefit of movement, human connection and touch, and their democratic and collaborative approach to creating dance.

facebook.com/feetoffthegrounddance
twitter.com/feetgrounddance
instagram.com/feetoffthegrounddance/
www.feetofftheground.co.uk
Costa Rica in the UK. Three performers are dressed in traditional dress including white flowing skirts with colourful edging.

Costa Rica in the UK

We are Costa Rica in the UK, a cultural community group that celebrates our roots through dancing, music and food here in the UK. Growing up in Costa Rica, the unique dance and marimba sound passed down through generations is a big part of our heritage. Living in London, we missed dancing, so we formed our group to share our culture with others. We are very proud to perform at the Greenwich Festival – can’t wait to see you there!

instagram.com/costarica_inthe_uk
www.wearecostarica.uk
TARU Arts. A carnival procession with drums and home made hats

TARU Arts

TARU Arts is an established non-profit art and education organisation committed to creating fun, exciting programmes and activities that encourage education and promote environmental awareness. Operating since 2003, we have worked with a wide variety of clients to provide children, young people, and community members with successful, highly enjoyable experiences designed to enrich their lives.

Based in Woolwich, we work with clients in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and throughout London, providing each with a personalised experience designed to suit their needs.

Instagram – taruarts Facebook – taru.arts Twitter – TARUBrazil

instagram.com/taruarts
twitter.com/TARUBrazil
facebook.com/taru.arts
taru.org.uk