Our September to November printed edition focuses on South Norwood - Past and Future. November's online edition features a retrospective about the South Norwood Community Festival. which ran from 2011 to 2016, one of the few free arts, crafts, music and food festivals run by the community, for the community.
5,000 printed copies of the magazine are placed in shops and through doors, as well as being available at local shops and businesses. Contact us if you'd like to have some at your business.
November 2026
I imagine there are very few people who wake up one a day and say "I know what our community needs. We need a free festival on our doorstep." But that is what happened in one day in 2011 when local businessman and musician John Rother got up in the morning and decided to choose to make a difference.
"I started the local festival with a friend. He knew a few bands who just liked to play. So with a temporary events notice for £21, we organised the first festival on Station Road, South Norwood.
We made our own stage from pallets and boards, borrowed power from nearby businesses, who were only to pleased to have a boost in trade and did as much advertising as our tiny budget of £150 would allow.
The second year, a fair operator brought a couple of kids rides and the police asked us to complete an alcohol licence for the street. After that we decided the street was looking a bit too busy for the numbers flowing from the station and stopping to enjoy proceedings.
The rundown park a stone's throw from Station Road started to look like an attractive option. I applied for the same licences, but in the park, and costs started to escalate,. I decided to speak to all of the local businesses for sponsorship and donations. Despite this, the costs continued to grow - security, ambulance, stage, toilets, fun fair fees, council admin fees and by the fourth year, I was thousands out of pocket.
It wasn't until the fifth year that it was clear I had to cancel it or start to run it like a businesss. I pushed the marketing, increased sponsorship fees, started charging stallholders and asked the fun fair and beer tent for a percentage. I also found out that I could apply for different grants but was never sure each year where the money would be coming from.
Volunteers, friends and helpers come and went. We started a committee to try and handle some of the more complex tasks, like finding well-priced toilets, bands, handle social media and advertising, whilst I had to deal with around 20 different council departments and staff, who also come and went every few years. It was a lot of work, I often made the joke that it was an unpaid full time job, which it actually was! But seeing everyone enjoy themselves on the day was always worth it!
By the time Covid arrived, the committee was (mostly) a fairly well-oiled machine. Everyone knew what they were doing and people who joined us for a meeting or two always seemed surprised at how organised we were.
Then Covid hit. Determined to still do something, that year we held 5 nights of music and comedy events at Stanley Arts, in between lockdowns. Bouncing back after that, the National Lottery Community Fund kindly stepped in for a few years, funding a big proportion of our main costs as we (and local businesses) recovered.
Some people thanked me in the street or shops for months after. I use trains and buses every day, and the greatest feeling of all was hearing commuters talk about it on public transport. Sometimes I was sat or stood right next to them and they did not know I was the organiser. Some were guessing the number of years it had been running, most said they love attending this event every year, a few thought it was council run, some boasted they had a friend in one of the bands and others that they knew the organiser. I never said a thing, I just smiled to myself."
SNCFest finished on a high in 2026 - with 16,000 people through the gates on the day. Sadly, a combination of funding issues and the high requirements to meet new legislation (which led to a massive increase in costs) means that the festival is unlikely to continue going forward.
EVENTS
South Norwood events can be viewed here.
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Local community groups and associations can be viewed here.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY
The local business directory can be viewed here.
FOR BUSINESSES
Currently, we offer free directory space for businesses and traders based in South Norwood here: www.southnorwood.net/business-directory.html.
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