Composer Saul James, creator of The Breathe Key, interviewed our chair, Can Giles Goddard, on kindness.             Saul James   The Breathe Key is an online space built to support people with breathing techniques to help calm the mind and body, during the Covid-19 lockdown and hopefully, beyond. As […]

  In this weekly series, we are featuring prominent women in our local community, both throughout history and those shaping our world today.   We asked Lorraine Spenceley, from the Creative Curve Theatre Company, to write a set of fictional monologues which give a little insight into women’s roles in Waterloo.         […]

  Waterloo was the last part of central London to build a community.       Centuries after Westminster became the seat of government, Lambeth had its palace, Southwark its theatres and brothels, and the City its teeming streets and alleys, the marshy land here was still used for farming and pleasure gardens.     […]

  Head to our Facebook page or YouTube channel at 6pm on Friday, 5th June for the premiere of a film by Orchestra for the Earth and the World Land Trust, commissioned by the Waterloo Festival for World Environment Day 2020.     The film features Sir David Attenborough as well as Mozart‘s Bassoon Concerto, […]

  We want to bring to you an article from the Mental Health Foundation. Following the podcast from The Breathe Key on kindness, here’s a list of random acts we can all do to promote kindness around!       As Bethan Buswell, author of this article, say: “Take action and carry out a random […]

  This piece about the Canterbury Music Hall was originally written for the Lambeth North Music Hall Song and Supper Evening in 2015 by Mark Ormerod and local resident Dolly Thompson.               The Canterbury Music Hall. Lithograph after drawing by S. Field           The music […]

  Today we want to share with you this fantastic article, published recently by Nicolas Rivero for Quartz earlier this month. It will lead you to a virtual maze of escape rooms! Immerse yourself and let the fun begin!                    

  Matt Brown rediscovers a forgotten local hero, with some unusual talents.       On 2 July 1818, a gentleman by the name of Usher the Clown took to the Thames in a most unlikely vessel — a boat pulled along by geese.           Usher was a noted entertainer at […]

  For the third time running, Waterloo Festival, in collaboration with Bridge House Publishing, organised a writing competition over the winter along the theme of Transforming Communities. Writers were invited to interpret freely the theme in a 1000-word story. We announced the winners a few weeks ago.       As part of the celebrations, […]

  For the third time running, Waterloo Festival, in collaboration with Bridge House Publishing, organised a writing competition over the winter along the theme of Transforming Communities. Writers were invited to interpret freely the theme in a 1000-word story. We announced the winners a few weeks ago.   As part of the celebrations, we’ll be […]

  Since the lockdown began in mid-March, the community in and around St John’s Waterloo has made a point of staying in touch digitally.       How? They’ve started their very own daily coffee meetings and pub afternoons. We invited Scott Berwick and Georgie Bell to tell us how this is all going on! […]

  by Oisín Hetherington       A historian’s dream would be a time machine – how useful it would be to hop into my Tardis and travel back to interview Henry VIII about his views on marital counselling or the Black Prince about his views on European relations.       Alas this is […]

  Coin Street have been funded by Illuminated River Foundation’s Community Fund to develop and deliver art workshops for young people aged 9+ for the local community. At Waterloo Festival, we are thrilled to be offering a weekly platform from which to showcase and share the work more widely!         Vincent Van […]

  World Press Freedom Day falls on the 3ʳᵈ of May. To celebrate this, we’re hosting a series of interviews with journalists and activists to be published over the next few weeks. Our Artistic Director Euchar Gravina will be exploring press freedom as a fundamental component of any healthy democracy and a key tool in […]

  Location: St John’s Churchard   St John’s Waterloo   Waterloo Road   London SE1 8TY       Exhibition open: Wed 19 May – Sun 6 June       Times: Daily 10am-8pm           Chris Clarke, “Respair”       An installation project organised by local artists Chris Clarke, Joao […]

  Jonathan Trustram, a volunteer at the Churchyard at St John’s Waterloo, has been helping us explore the garden’s history, its plants and its kind carers. Today, he takes on a different kind of gardening tour, one primarily concerned with Virgil and poetry.         St John’s Churchyard   IAMQUE MINISTRANTEM PLATANUM POTANTIBUS […]

  Waterloo Festival thrives on creative partnerships, on bringing professionals from the world of arts and music to collaborate with and showcase their wonderful work to our communities in Waterloo, Lambeth and – thanks to the marvels of the internet – elsewhere. We hear more from Hart Club, a local organisation championing neurodiversity in the […]

  Through a series of interviews and articles with journalists and activists, our Artistic Director Euchar Gravina is exploring press freedom as a fundamental component of any healthy democracy and transforming communities. Following chats with Shanon Shah, James Hatts and Alessandra Galloni, our last conversation is with Rebecca Vincent, of Reporters Without Borders.     […]

  Euchar Gravina, Artistic Director of the Waterloo Festival, speaks to George and Andy about the transformations of the SE1 area in the 1970s, what was happening in the area historically and the new pressures of the time especially planning and commercial a development.       They also discuss the social and political climate […]

  Our first newsletter is out! You can subscribe by filling the form below (at the end of the page) or clicking here.                      

  Donna McDowell is head of Schools & Family Learning at St Paul’s Cathedral. She has worked on a number of artistic projects such as Under The Skin, Alternative Advent, Live Street Art, and Where Light Falls. She has also worked on a distance learning resource for families during lockdown, which you can find here. […]

  by Shanon Shah       Continuing the Waterloo Festival’s special series to commemorate the upcoming 30th anniversary celebrations of Okusinza mu Luganda, we present the second part of our interview with co-founder Dorothy Mukasa. The first part of our interview with Dorothy introduced the complex political circumstances in Uganda and the UK which […]

  RESPAIR: WATERLOO FESTIVAL TO CELEBRATE RETURN OF HOPE   May and June 2021       Waterloo Festival, an annual celebration of the arts, community and heritage hosted by St John’s Waterloo, will return for its 11th year from early May until the end of June 2021.       The theme for this […]

  We have launched Waterloo Well, a programme of creative and wellbeing activities for homeless and vulnerable people, and we are looking for an artist to work within a local homelessness centre.       Could you play a leading role in piloting this new service? We’re looking for an artist to complete a residency […]