Fun Palaces
By Emma Pooley
Across the other side of Brick Lane from Spitalfields City Farm sits the Boundary Estate – Britain’s oldest council estate, opened in 1900. For the last five years, the farm has been invited to join the residents of the estate in a day of celebration and excitement at the annual Fun Palace event.
Fun Palaces are a national network of community events, occurring on the first weekend in October, that are led by the community, for the community. They are free to attend and all the participating organisations donate their time for the day. We were delighted to be invited back for another year, especially after the 2020 event was cancelled due to Covid.
Two of our staff and a volunteer packed up three of our friendly chickens and travelled the short distance to the estate to bring a tiny slice of the farm to the local residents. The event was hosted at the Virginia Primary School in the heart of the estate, and we were joined by a wealth of other local groups from theatre to arts, history to science, all joining together to celebrate the community.
Spitalfields City Farm’s chickens
Farm staff showing our chickens to residents
Alongside the chickens, locals were invited to have a go at weaving and we were joined by dozens of children (and adults!) who had a go at weaving a small placemat to take away with them. Those who didn’t want to make a whole mat for themselves were encouraged to weave a few inches of one and then leave it for someone else to add to later. A real community effort!
Weaving at the Fun Palace
Farm staff weaving
The weather was against us, with it raining for the majority of the day, added to later in the day by the discovery that the gazebo we had been given wasn’t water tight! But everyone had a great time anyway!