Sarah and I ventured out to the evening spectacle of the Thamesmead Festival which took place at Southmere Lake (apologies for the somewhat grainy images!) and is relevant to our work on South Thamesmead. The evening kicked off with a procession of local kids and families taking homemade lanterns down to sailing boats which cast them across the lake… much to the bemusement of the resident swans.

The illumination of the four iconic towers perched on the south edge of the lake turned into a dramatic light display which transformed these rather tired buildings into fantastic canvasses of colour. Stood by the water, we saw herons flying over and bats flitting around the trees (Pipistrellus pipistrellus, I believe). Giant fibreglass swans then emerged, zooming across the lake, complete with dancers with sparkler-canon guns. The evening closed with fireworks from the lake to moody instrumental accompaniment… how can this be topped in 2018?!

Kudos to Adrianne Marques, the Peabody Head of Thamesmead Cultural Strategy, and Emergency Exit Arts for the delivery of the evening… along with many, many others, no doubt.