Arcadia Festival: Arcadia Full Bloom

Over centuries, we’ve always imagined a better, greener world called Arcadia.
This autumn, Stanley Arts throws open its doors to explore what Arcadia might look like right here and now in Croydon.
Arcadia Festival is day-long festival of performances, creative interventions led by young people, and outdoor activities that the whole family can enjoy. Together we will explore what it means to live in relationship with a living natural world.
Start the day outside with gardening activities for all the family in The Yard, and join in with Katy Dye’s Water Rituals, where you’re invited to help decorate the building’s own water sources throughout the day, turning something ordinary into something worth celebrating.
Choose to watch Rachel Lincoln’s Meadow, a joyful, puppet-filled musical adventure for 3-7 year olds in Stanley Halls, inspired by a real patch of wild grass squeezed between a train depot and an allotment – a reminder that magic and biodiversity are closer than we think. Or take part in an interactive creative intervention exploring the intrinsic value of nature, designed by our Youth Environmental Ambassadors.
In the afternoon, in the Society Room you’ll be able to vote with your phone and shape the story in Wayne Samuel’s Poempocalypse Croydon, a speculative survival adventure set in a version of our own city. And discover WomanEwer’s Vera in Stanley Halls, a powerful movement and sound piece celebrating womanhood and the natural world.
Post-show conversations in the afternoon will explore how to engage communities and young people in climate action, and how Stanley Arts and others in the theatre sector are embedding environmental responsibility into their work. Guest speakers are to be announced.
Vegan and vegetarian lunch will be on sale between 12 – 2 in the Yard.

You can also book our Arcadia Wild Morning and Arcadia Adventure Afternoon individually.