London Pleasure Gardens 2012

The parlour provided the crew food for the build during some of the most extreme weather conditions you can get in England. The team spirit and commitment of the Pleasure Gardens crew was amazing, everyone worked like Trojans towards a common goal and we were glad to be a part of that.

Our opening event was Paradise Gardens, the site had a few teething problems but a good time was had by all and we were really happy to show off the ice cream parlour to all our friends in London and celebrate all our hard work with the crew. Luckily we weren’t booked for Bloc and so missed the disaster the following weekend.

BT Rivers of Music was the  next  festival, we were representing the continent of Africa in a  London wide event. The sun came out, the site looked fantastic, the music and entertainment were brilliant and the crowds were very cool. We had the only coffee on site so our expert Baristas Ben and Thea worked until they dropped. Our dance floor was heaving  and the music rang out across the Docklands into the night.

The Olympics were supposed to be the Pleasure Gardens showcasing  the arts and music in the East End, and a destination in the capital for those who didn’t manage to get tickets, but still wanted to be a part of the celebration. Unfortunately that was not the case. The music and arts programming was axed and the site was open to ticket holders only (on their way out of the Excel). This had the obvious devastating effect and hailed the tragic end of an inspirational project.