Over one thousand of you joined us for our Wanna Play? Festival – a family-friendly day including music, dance and creative workshops spread across our Playground, Skate Park and Boating Lake.
The Festival took place on Saturday 13 June, as part of our participation in the London Festival of Architecture 2026.
Alongside all the fun, it was also a chance to hear ideas from neighbours and Park visitors about how you would like us to improve Play opportunities in the Park in the coming years. Our beautiful Playground and Skate Park are well-used and much-loved, but these increasingly weathered spaces are ready for a rethink. We’re currently raising funds to refurbish them – to bring them up to date and make sure they continue to serve future generations of Haringey. We’re extremely grateful to everyone who contributed ideas, and we’ll share more feedback shortly.
Here’s a few highlights from the Festival…
SKATE JAM
The Ally Pally Skate Jam returned for its fourth year, with our Creative Learning team joining up with the North London Skate Club to deliver an afternoon of skating, alongside music from the Reggae Roast DJs, Street Food, live graffiti art and breakdancing lessons .
THE PLAYGROUND
The Ally Pally Young Actors Company transformed swings, slides and familiar play structures into a theatrical wonderland sparking conversation about the importance of truly inclusive, great local play. This reimagining of The Playground by Kay Ashead was adapted specially for the Ally Pally Playground.
LIVE MUSIC AT THE BOATHOUSE
Our newly refurbished Boathouse Cafe was a centrepiece of the Festival, and featured live acoustic music from members of our Young Creatives Network.
SKATE & CREATE
The RIBA Learning Youth Forum ran workshops for young people to design the Ally Pally skate park of the future!
MAKE & PLAY WITH UNIT 38
Architectural design collective Unit 38 invited families to get creative and, using their signature approach to consultation through hands‑on making and imaginative play, led activities where local communities could design, build, stick, and make their ideal vision of Ally Pally’s play areas.
