Yesterday (11 March), Barnet Council won the Mayor of London’s Cultural Impact Award which will fund a new and exciting festival in the borough.

The Cultural Impact Awards are a part of the London Borough of Culture initiative; and are a great way for London boroughs to represent and celebrate the vibrant cultures of their local communities.

The £200,000 funding will be used to launch the Light & Flight festival, which is developed in partnership with the RAF Museum in Colindale and will honour Barnet’s vital role in the development of aviation. The festival will celebrate the original pilots who defined the early era of powered flight, including iconic women pilots Amy Johnson and Edith Maud Cook, who made flying history. More about the Light & Flight festival can be found here.

Cllr Ammar Naqvi, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, Arts & Sport, said: “We’re delighted to win the Mayor of London’s Cultural Impact Award. It will enable us to stage the ambitious Light & Flight festival and mark Barnet’s leading role in the early evolution of powered flight. Our festival will celebrate the world-defining technological and social leaps forward that started here, in our borough.  It will reflect and embrace the many ways that aviation has broken down barriers and brought people together in ways that have enriched us all.”

Barnet Council will also collaborate with Related Argent, our joint venture partner for Brent Cross Town. The Brent Cross Cricklewood area has a well-known and rich history in aeroplanes, including being the first place where aeroplanes took off from, making this exciting a more exciting partnership. Barnet Council will also work with local libraries, businesses, community groups and local schools to create and curate the Light & Flight festival.

Morwenna Hall, Executive Director at Related Argent, said: “Congratulations to Barnet Council on securing a Cultural Impact Award for its Light & Flight festival in partnership with the RAF Museum in Colindale. The award is testimony to the borough’s commitment to nurture access to public art and culture and the additional funding it unlocks will bolster the Council’s support for local cultural talent. Through our joint venture at Brent Cross Town, we look forward to continuing to support the council with its public art and culture programmes in the years ahead.”

The sound and visual programme of events will include art installations commissioned from local artists, art trails and virtual reality experiences. The council will match fund the Cultural Impact Award to the sum of £60,000. Keep an eye out for the exciting activities that the Light & Flight festival will bring to the borough and communities.

To keep up to date on Barnet Council’s Light & Flight festival, click here.

Brent Cross Town is the new park town being delivered in partnership between Related Argent and Barnet Council, at the heart of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme.