Bowie’s Beckenham Oddity is urging local businesses to help support their annual fundraising event by donating prizes for the raffle and tombola.
This year’s festival will take place on August 11 at Croydon Road Recreation Ground, with proceeds from the day going to the Bowie Bandstand Restoration and Plaque Fund.
The David Bowie Official Archive has donated a signed David Bowie item. The festival celebrates the life and legacy of David Bowie, his time in Beckenham and beyond. Fans and music lovers are invited to celebrate David Bowie’s songs, life and influence, in the park where his rise to stardom began back in 1969.
Now in its third year, Bowie’s Beckenham Oddity will be centred around the same iconic bandstand where Bowie and friends from the Beckenham Arts Lab held the UK’s first Free Festival – The Growth Summer Festival – on August 16, nearly 49 years ago. The festival coincided with the release of Bowie’s first hit single Space Oddity and the day was later immortalised with another Bowie single release, Memory Of A Free Festival.
Event organiser, Wendy Faulkner, said: “It’s not just about Bowie, but also all the people who were involved with him along his path to stardom. Brixton has its mural, Aylesbury now has its Earthly Messenger statue, but for me the most real and meaningful place has to be at the bandstand.
“His ties to the borough and the bandstand are without question; he thrived here, having found the freedom to develop the songs that would later change him, change music and change the world. Slightly off the beaten track, it’s well worth the journey to come along to see it and experience it first-hand.”
Tickets cost £10 for adults, £5 for 10 to 16-year-olds and under 10s are free. Anyone wishing to donate a prize should contact Lynn Baker via email at missbakerjane@icloud.com.
Hi how much has been raised so far and how much more is needed pleas?