Lambeth Country Show
Brockwell Park 16 JULY 2016
Free
Lambeth Country show, run by Event Lambeth and funded through Lambeth council is now in its 43rd year. LCS has many attractions and activities on offer, a celebration of both city and countryside, and how these two opposites can interlink.
Complete with animal displays, flower competitions, an on-site farm and lots of food stalls to choose from, Brockwell Park is thoroughly transformed to a traditional countryside setting. Country show is an event for all kinds of people, with numerous options for both families with young children and 20 somethings looking for a good time. Music is a big feature of the show and is positioned opposite to the funfair. Various live acts play a mix of afro-beat, ska and reggae, a contrast to your typical country show folk soundtrack, but after all, this isn't Norfolk, it's London. If the sun is shining the country show can momentarily feel like any other music festival, except it's local (at least for me) and FREE!
One thing which bothers me about the country show is the on-site farm. I get that we want to make this as authentic as possible, but a park in the middle of London with over 100,000 people is no place for pigs. Last time I went I caught the end of a pig show which had been going on, they were being made to walk around a fenced off section of the park, on leads. The look of distress in their faces was honestly heartbreaking, I didn't stay much longer than a minute before I'd had enough - one pig was even squealing and trying to kick the man leading him around because he was having such a bad time. I get that seeing animals like this is highly exciting for children, but there are enough city farms (Deen City Farm in Merton, for example) that they can visit if this is a genuine wish of theirs.
Apart from that area, the rest is great, even the other animal involved activities such as the sheep dog and owl displays - these guys get less stressed. The food is not too overpriced and neither is the booze (if you're willing to drink cider out of a milk bottle all day). Overall a very nice day out, provided that the weather holds up, and even if it doesn't who doesn't love a dance in the rain now and then?
OVERALL RATING: ****
http://lambethcountryshow.co.uk/
