In 2024, we worked with London Borough of Barnet to shape an ambitious bid for London Borough of Culture 2027.
Barnet is a great place to live and work, but culture hadn’t always been easy to see or access. Despite a low cultural baseline, grassroots groups had quietly kept creative life going in their communities. Our job was to help bring that energy into the spotlight.
Together, we positioned culture as a catalyst. Something that could build pride, bring people together and kick-start a long-term cultural shift.
Our Barnet Canvas: Listening First
Before writing a single line of the bid, we spent three months listening.
Through Our Barnet Canvas, we ran workshops, events and surveys with residents, artists, businesses and community groups across the borough. We asked:
• What makes Barnet special?
• What should culture actually do for people?
• What kind of future feels worth building?
More than 1,500 people took part. The result was a vision shaped by local voices, and stronger relationships between the council, communities and cultural organisations that would last well beyond the bid.
From Bid to Action
Barnet didn’t take the main Borough of Culture title, but the vision didn’t stop there.
The strength of the bid secured the Mayor of London’s Cultural Impact Award, unlocking £200k from the Greater London Authority. Further funding followed from Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, turning ideas into a year-long programme of activity.
Building on that momentum, we were commissioned as creative production partner to develop and deliver Light + Flight – a bold, inclusive celebration of creativity, connection and belonging. Inspired by Barnet’s aviation history, diverse communities, and stories of movement, migration and settlement, Light + Flight explores:
• Light as visibility, hope and revelation
• Flight as freedom, journey and transformation
Through continued collaboration with communities, artists and cultural partners, Light + Flight is about uncovering hidden stories, celebrating diversity and imagining new possibilities.
Now, the year culminates in two weekends of a free festival across Barnet, creating opportunities for people to see, hear, make, join and experience the culture of the borough.
This November, Light + Flight – the culmination of more than two years work in Barnet – comes together for four days of art, music, performance, heritage and collective fun; all created with and for the people of the borough.
Across two weekends and three cultural destinations, discover new artworks, live performances, creative workshops, film, food and more, as we celebrate the people, stories and places that make Barnet unique.
The first instalment unfolds on 14th – 15th November at Finchley Lakeside, a five-storey complex opening to the public for the first time. Light + Flight reimagines the site into a temporary cultural hub, with the free two-day event bringing together large-scale art installations, live music, film, performance, creative workshops, food, and the unveiling of a major new artwork, Ascendence, set against the backdrop of the pine-fringed lake.
With a second weekend of programming at the RAF Museum and artsdepot from 21st – 22nd November.
