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karl brown interviewed

Karl Brown

An online interview where you can find out about the history of the Palmers Green Festival - including its rather unusual origin - and what we can expect this year, with particular emphasis on the Speakers' Corner that was introduced last year and was highly successful.

Francis Sealy is interviewing Karl Brown, who's been a festival organiser for many years, and Sof Yiannakas, who came up with the idea of the Speakers' Corner.

The PG Festival's unusually strong focus on community rather than commerce is an idea that's spreading to other parts of London.  Francis sums it up thus:

Festivals are the new public square. The public square is where people meet, they enjoy, they have fun, they debate, a bit of politics, a bit of religion, they hear music, and if we can combine that all together, we're creating something which is very important for any community.

soff yiannakas

Soff Yiannakas

Karl urges everyone to join in:

It's a community festival, so come along, meet people live in the area, find out what's going on in the area, see what you can benefit or what you might want to contribute - or just have a good time. It's not going to cost you anything, it's going to be sunny, and it promotes PG as well, as a place to live, a place for businesses to come, so come along. If you've never been before, give it a go.

Speakers' Corner at the Palmers Green Festival

Subject to alteration

Poetry readings my Mary Duggan and the team between every session.

12.30: Introduction To Speakers Corner

Introduction by Francis Sealey from Enfield Voices.

12.35: Ukulele

Ukulele Band Performance.

13.10: Clean Up The High Street

Speakers TBC 

13.30: Business In The Community

With Mikhail Dubov (Co-Founder and CEO of Chattermill) and Nick Charalambous (Founder & Product Recruiter Knowit)  

14.15: Faith in The Community 

With Julie Coleman, Mark Meatcher and Mehera Begum

15.00: Climate Change Emergency

With Vicki Pite, Adam Mcgibbon (Divest Enfield)

16.00: Meet Your MP Bambos Charalambous

An interview with local MP Bambos Charalambous and an invite to the audience to put their questions and concerns to him facilitated by Clive Coleman

16.40: Meet Your Councillors

Clive Coleman will host a session where you can hear from 2-3 of your local Councillors and ask them questions about your Council and how to improve your locality. Edward Smith and Katherine Chibbah confirmed their attendance.

17.20: Enfield and Pollution

With Better Streets, Daniel Anderson

18:00: Closure

Speakers Corner participants

Bambos Charalambous MP is a British politician. and there MP for Enfield Southgate elected in 2017. The second MP with Cypriot ancestry, and the first whose parents both have a Cypriot background. He has a strong interest in education. Bambos was born in London and raised in Bowes Park, Enfield and has lived there all his life. He was educated at Tottenhall Infants School, St Michael-at-Bowes Junior School (where he is now a school governor), Chace Boys Comprehensive School, followed by Tottenham College and then Liverpool Polytechnic where he received a law degree and was elected as vice president of the Students' Union in 1990.

Clive Coleman is a barrister and award winning journalist. He was called to the Bar in 1986 and practised in both crime and civil law. For six years between 2004 and 2010 he presented the BBC's flagship legal analysis programme Law in Action on Radio 4.  He has presented a raft of BBC radio and television programmes including Panorama, and written regularly for the Times, the Guardian and the Independent. For the past eight years Clive has been the BBC's Legal Correspondent covering a vast range of legal stories and issues across the BBC's national news output on radio, television and the website. In addition Clive is one of the country's leading comedy writers with credits include Spitting Image, Dead Ringers, Smith and Jones, and his Radio 4 and BBC1 sit-com about barristers, Chambers starring John Bird and Sarah Lancashire.  In October his new play 'Young Marx', a comedy about the young Karl Marx, starring Rory Kinnear and directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner, opened London's brand new Bridge Theatre a short distance and runs until the new year.

Mary Duggan is an Enfield poet is a featured reader or Enfield Borough. In local theatre, pubs and events. She organises word workshops; exhibitions and poetic events for festivals etc. Her poem is poem of the month in The Dugdale, December 2018. Contact . 

Clare Richmond has worked as an advisor with private sector companies, government funded agencies, councils and community organisations .Clare has appeared at the London Assembly for the High Street Economy Panel and on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Four Thoughts’ discussing ‘How to save the High Street’. Clare has also been a Partner in Ethos a leading proponent of the Future of Work. “SpeakTo take the complexities or grass-roots community leadership and turn these into challenging and practical learning for larger organisations”

Clare Rogers started the Better Streets Campaign in Enfield after her sister, Sally sent her a video about Playing Out – the seminal Bristol project which closes residential roads to traffic so children can play freely – adding: “Shame you couldn’t do this on your street.” Nothing goads like a sibling, and two years later our Palmers Green rat-run was an official London Play Street. She is now a key person in “Better Streets For Enfield” - a local group calling for a better balance on Enfield’s streets between cars, bikes, public transport users and pedestrians, to create a more people-friendly borough. 

Francis Sealey is an ex BBC Producer having made programmes for the Open University and also the Community Programmes Unit. he has lived in Palmers Green since 1970 and been involved in developing a number of community initiatives and local campaigns. In the last ten years he has developed GlobalNet21 to get people to discuss the major issuers of the 21st century and has in the last two years developed Enfield Voices to take this mission to a local level.

Edward Smith is a Councillor for Cockfosters Ward, and Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Enfield Council. He is also Chairman of Enfield Southgate Conservative Association. 

The agenda is subject to change between now and the festival. Please check back on the day for the final schedule.

Links

Palmers Green Festival website

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