The celebrations have been skilfully planned and not only mark the success of this venue, they will also take it to a new level with an amazing project designed to fully involve the public.
Let’s go retro a sec! Why Fairfield Halls? The building was developed on a piece of high profile land i.e: a field used for fairs, creating a focal point within the area. Interestingly, the Fairfield Halls holds charity status and remains of great importance to the community, providing an exceptional and unrivalled range of services from wedding receptions to first class shows: check out the website for details.
What’s on right now? The first celebratory event is a photographic exhibition in the Sun Lounge entitled , ‘FACES OF FAIRFIELD.’ This exhibition will be in 3 parts. Part 1 is called ‘THE ROCK YEARS,’ focusing on the 70’s and 80’s. It was opened officially 29th March with a champagne reception and will run until 2nd June. The photo’s were all taken at the Fairfield Halls by local photographer Frazer Ashford. They primarily depict popular singing stars of the era such as Dana, Elton John and The Four Tops. It has been extended to encompass other famous faces of the day including violinist Yehudi Menuhin, model Twiggy and Arthur Davison who held regular family concerts at the Fairfield Halls on Saturday mornings. Part 2 of the exhibition will present Frazer’s theatre coverage featuring well loved artists such as Dad’s Army’s own Arthur Lowe and Part 3 will bring us right up to date with some current photo's!
FAIRFIELDAT50.COM... ( link to the right of the page & well worth checking out) is a new and exciting on-line initiative providing the public with access to a wealth of material depicting the life and times of Fairfield Halls. It is an amazing archive charting the last 5 decades, loaded with images that have been ‘painfully’ hand scanned by volunteers. Included are images from the first ever programme when the Late Queen Mother opened the Fairfield, a scan of the first ticket, posters and programmes right through to the current day.
The first ever Ashcroft theatre event was attended by Dame Peggy Ashcroft who graced the stage to read a poem. You can find diary covers, information about the history of Fairfield and use a special facility to search by date, artist, event, name or genre. A very useful resource for those requiring specific information. To encourage interaction and greater coverage an additional exciting facility has been incorporated to involve those who love the Fairfield. 'Add your memories' enables people to load up their pictures with captions, or simply record their memories. Staff at the, ‘ Croydon Local Studies Library and Archives Service ‘ were extremely helpful finding and uploading information to the site. Fairfield staff are also very thankful and appreciative of all the help given by numerous volunteers, graduates and interns.
The Fairfield Hall has a history of celebrating special events with musical concerts. The inaugural concert featured the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sergeant, including a solo given by world famous violinist Yehudi Menhuin. Following tradition, the 50th Birthday Celebration on 2nd November will be presented by the Fairfield’s resident orchestra, The London Mozart Players, featuring a special composition: more information to follow. We look forward to bringing you further coverage of this special occasion!
A big thank you to Laura Roberts, Press Officer for supplying this information.
Interview with Photographer Frazer Ashford coming SOON!
Contact us with your events itsbraap@live.co.uk
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