It must be that time of year – word has reached us of another planned festival for Plumstead Common, three years after the ill-fated Woolwich Festival proposal.
Unlike the previous effort, the organisers of the “Undivided Summer Festival” have applied to Greenwich Council for a Temporary Events Notice (TEN) for Monday August 28th, although little is known about the festival or organisers “Come Out of Hiding Ministries” (COOH) themselves.
Undivided Festival letter to residents
A letter to local residents says the festival will run from midday through to 6pm and feature inflatables, fun stuff, games, DJs and live performances with 499 people expected to attend.
Co-incidentally, 499 people is the limit for a £21 TEN license before things start getting tricky. The Plumstead Make Merry has to satisfy a number of conditions to go ahead, find stewards and pay significantly more in order to hold their annual summer event.
Significantly, COOH were selling tickets to the event as late as August 10th when they backtracked in a post on Instagram following talks with Greenwich Council. Prices initially ranged from £12 for adults, £28 for a family ticket or £175 for a group of twenty.
COOH are now allowing free entry and soliciting donations but it’s unclear how many tickets have been sold and what is happening to the money raised so far. Stallholders will still be expected to pay.
Come Out of Hiding post on Instagram – August 10th
“Come Out of Hiding Ministries” first appeared in October 2015 with an event at Woolwich’s New Wine Church. This year they’ve held an “Unmasked” evening at either Harrow Leisure Centre or a unit in the Woolwich Dockyard Industrial Estate, depending where you look. You can see the highlights here.
Nancy Cannon-Ikurusi, founder of COOH, has also appeared at the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s (RCCG) Praise Feast in 2016.
With recent controversy surrounding both New Wine Church and RCCG it’s slightly worrying that this quasi-religious festival has come out of nowhere and billing itself as a family fun day. Questions also remain over staffing at the event, the true number of people expected, who is clearing up afterwards and who at Greenwich Council thought it was a good idea to sign this off without consulting local residents.
UPDATE: August 25th, 00:30
Emmanuel Danso Ministries’ “Grace Family Fundraiser”
Thanks to @WoolwichWideWeb on Twitter we’ve now heard about another event planned for Saturday. This time it’s “Emmanuel Danso Ministries” from Guildford with their “Grace Family Fundraiser” at £10 entry. Again, it’s taking place at “Plumstead Common Park”.
It’s unclear whether this one actually has an events license.
Don’t be fooled by the name – Emmanuel needs to fund a trip to Ghana so he’s having a barbecue on the Common. Have a look here.
