Naquada

I’m slightly confused about what’s actually happening at Covent Garden now, and what the real agenda is. Beverly Churchill sent me (and everyone who’s emailed her) the same email. Which makes it sound like it’s a simple situation where sound clashes and movement of the public is the problem, she also states that “We believe that street entertainment is a significant part of Covent Garden’s rich heritage“.

However I’m confused by an article in Property Week, that one of the commenters (thanks Lee!!) pointed me towards that states:

Brand and marketing guru Churchill, who has worked at Tesco and with Vittorio Radice at Selfridges, has been taken on by Liberty International-owned Capital & Counties to turn Covent Garden from a tourist trap with tatty market stalls and buskers into a world-class retail and leisure destination with a top-end designer boutique hotel, designer retailers and restaurants. Her most recent job was with retail billionaire Sir Philip Green.

Which is a stark contrast to what we’re being lead to believe in the emails..

PLEASE make sure you join the myspace group that has been set up to show support for the performers. You can take a few moments to sign the online petitions, so please sign both the North Hall petition and the South Courtyard petition. Its very important to sign BOTH!!! You can also voice your disagreement of this by joining the mass email campaign. Just cut and paste the below sentences and send them to beverley-churchill@capcount.com.

I am writing to express my opposition to the reducing of the street theatre performance times by 50% in The North Hall, and South Hall areas in Covent Garden.I urge you to reconsider this direct attack on the livelihood of the famous Covent Garden Street Performers and Classical Musicians. Specifically I’m concerned about the comments made in Property Week regarding “Brand and marketing guru Churchill, who has worked at Tesco and with Vittorio Radice at Selfridges, has been taken on by Liberty International-owned Capital & Counties to turn Covent Garden from a tourist trap with tatty market stalls and buskers into a world-class retail and leisure destination with a top-end designer boutique hotel, designer retailers and restaurants. Her most recent job was with retail billionaire Sir Philip Green.”

Please link to this article, email it on, and spread the word…

Following on from sending an email to Beverley Churchill regarding the proposed changes at Covent Garden I got the following reply from her today:

Dear Andrew

Thank you for your email.

To clarify, we are working on a revised schedule of performances within only one of Covent Gardens performance spaces, the North Halls and Lower Courtyards of the Market Building. This is to overcome the issue of excessive sound levels from clashing performances and the lack of breaks between the shows that has been raised as an issue by other people who live and work in the area.

The schedule will not cut shows by the suggested 50%, but will introduce short breaks between shows to limit the competing noise levels within the two performance areas, while maintaining performance throughout the day for visitors to the area.

We are in ongoing discussions with the street performers on this matter and will continue to work with them to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

We believe that street entertainment is a significant part of Covent Garden’s rich heritage but we need to ensure this works for the whole community.

Kind regards

Bev Churchill

Covent Garden has always been the place in London to go if you’ve wanted to see street performers at their best, dating back to the 1600’s covent garden has always had performers, but the current performance areas and agreements still date from the late 1970’s. Covent Garden even has ‘Magicians Corner’ pictured here, frequented by some of the biggest magical names in street performing, including the legendary Bob Read.

However all this could change going forward. Performance has always been a hot potatoes as far as westminster council, and the owners of Covent Garden are concerned. The present owners of the market are Capital and Counties, a member of The Liberty International Group, (http://www.liberty-international.co.uk/). During a key meeting in the Westminster Council Chamber they unsuccessfully opposed the street performers having any involvement in the running of the performance spaces, and are looking to change the way performance is run there. Their main aim is to impose two things that would drastically effect street artistes of all types who work in the market.

1) A 50% reduction in the total time that performers can use the spaces
2) A reduction in the length of each individual show from 40 mins to 30 mins.

The idea of a street show, as veterans like Gazzo and others know, is that the true street performer does not perform to passing trade, they gather an audience, produce a show and collect or ‘hat’ at the end, implementing these changes could cost the performers between 25% and 50% of their total average income, making the venue unviable for performers, which will undoubtedly lead to street performing in Convent Garden to die out.

I feel very strongly about this, and a myspace group has been set up to show support for the performers. You can take a few moments to sign the online petitions, so please sign both the North Hall petition and the South Courtyard petition.

You can also voice your disagreement of this by joining the mass email campaign. Just cut and paste the below sentences and send them to beverley-churchill@capcount.com.

I am writing to express my opposition to the reducing of the street theatre performance times by 50% in The North Hall, and South Hall areas in Covent Garden.I urge you to reconsider this direct attack on the livelihood of the famous Covent Garden Street Performers and Classical Musicians.

Please link to this article, email it on, and spread the word…

photo credit: alextakesphotos