Many congratulations are due to the hard-working organisers of the wonderful 11th Amwell Street Party which was held on Sunday 14 July.
The first fête was held in 2008 as a ‘thank you’ to local people for their support of the retailers when the London Borough of Islington was selling off Amwell Street commercial properties to a developer, threatening existing local businesses and the unique character of the Amwell Village. Those days seem a distant memory, yet we all benefit from the tenacity of the business owners in Amwell Street and thank them for sticking with us.
After a rainy start on 14 July, the weather cheered up and we had a brilliantly sunny day. About 1,500 people attended the party who enjoyed the four live music acts. There were more than thirty stalls set up on the day which were run by local people, local people, businesses and organisations including the Amwell Society.
There was a fun fair for the kids, a cake bake-off judged by food writer Felicity Cloake with actor-turned-baker, Daisy Brydon, open-air yoga classes for all ages and, of course, the ever-popular dog-show hosted by Amwell Veterinary Practice. The event this year was sponsored by Brownings Garage and Amwell Veterinary Practice both of whom also generously donated £500 worth of prize vouchers for the star raffles. We hope that the Party might be self-funded next year along with being awarded Islington Local Initiatives award towards the overall cost of the event. Once we’ve set a 2020 date, we’ll let you know and will look forward to an even bigger turn-out next year.