Georgia Dodsworth: Whitecross Street Party

Everyone has a story. Meet Georgia Dodsworth the Creative Producer of Whitecross Street Party. This year’s community takeover festival runs from 13-14 July. Interview by Nicola Baird. Photos by Kash Bashir & Whitecross Street Party.

If you want something done, then assign a busy person. That’s a life rule most of know, which is why dynamo Georgia Dodsworth seems an ideal choice for the Creative Producer role of the Whitecross Street Party, run every summer for the past 14 years. For the next three street parties (2024, 2025 and 2026) this 26-year-old is in charge of programming. And you’re going to love it.

Q: What’s your role at the White X Street party?
I’m the creative producer so do everything – there are a lot of spinning plates! I’m a freelancer and work in a lot of different organisations. I was recommended to YMCA: The Whitecross Street Party is funded by Islington council and run by YMCA City & North.

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A lot of my job started in January 2024, which I’d say is late in the process. At first my role was understanding the legacy and history of this street party and the community groups it serves, and the partners it had already. After I understood that, my job was to refresh the vision. For me it felt that the street party needed a little refresh. Our new vision for the next three years celebrates a radical community, so I needed to identify who was already doing this radical work, setting up conversations and listening to the community and how they want to get involved.

Georgia’s planned a full weekend programme across two days and two stages and a festival food market. The Whitecross Street Party runs from 13-14 July 2024.

Q: What are you most looking forward to at the festival?
Seeing the young people feel like they are being represented and showcase artistic talent on the stages. We’ve invited the youth residents at YMCA to steward at the event. Some are in key roles so they will learn how to do certain elements of a job – they can shadow me, the sound engineer and the stage manager so it really helps with their career and skill development. I’m really looking forward to hearing how they get on, and see how it inspires the next generation. There’s a lot more community engagement this year: I’m looking forward to seeing smiles on those people’s faces – or even young children saying, ‘Mummy have a look at that!’.

This year we’ve also got a partnership with Barbican Centre and are working with London Play – there’ll be a play activation area with space hoppers, volleyball games to inspire people to engage in different activities. Also showing the link between art and homelessness, through Accumulate (arts and homeless charity) and Cardboard Citizens. Barbican are putting on some short films made by Cardboard Citizens and Mallorie Blackman will chair a panel Q&A around art and homelessness.

Most of the Whitecross Street Party activities are outside, so hopefully it will be sunny weather, but events will still happen regardless, people just need to bring their jackets.

We’ve also got workshops from Little Angel Theatre on puppet making; illustration techniques from the Quentin Blake Centre for illustration and Play Cycles from the Museum of London. We’re bringing this nearby hub of culture to Whitecross Street We’ll also celebrate amazing street art and across the weekend we’ll have artists painting live – on the street – which will stay long after the festival.

Q: Are you able to bring in any of your interests from SelfCareQueen to the 2024 festival?
Indirectly with the whole practice of positive workspaces, mental health, inclusion and accessibility. All of that is feeding into the street party and encouraging and promoting those possibilities. We’ll also be checking people are taking enough breaks. Next year I want to implement those practices even more with, maybe, a wellbeing area.

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Georgia’s favourite places in Islington

1. Whitecross Street! You can find out about the Whitecross Street party here
2. I love the pockets of green spaces in Islington. There’s always a park or a little patch of green space somewhere even on the Old Street side, always a little patch of green space. Love the Regents Canal too! I love walking in my spare time and the area always has somewhere to go.
3. It’s a very community centred area, there are a lot of community projects and initiatives reflected in services and provision.
4. I did find the health care pretty good when I lived in Islington
5. It was good in Tufnell Park just being close to the tube lines and central London. I loved being in this nice area to chill and relax and also be close to Hampstead Heath.

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Q: What’s your connection to Islington?
I grew up in Barnet and live in Waltham Forest now, but I lived in Tufnell Park for three years, when I was 18-22. I was studying at Guildhall, where I now work part time as a project manager for the National Open Youth Orchestra which is an inclusive youth orchestra.

I studied Performance and Creative Enterprise – it was about how you get yourself out there, including funding applications – and was how I fell in love with project management. The course was a collaboration with the Barbican’s Creative Learning department and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but sadly no longer exists. I wouldn’t be the person I am now without it.

Across the past two to three years I’ve been working with community groups in the City of London, which sits between the City of London and Islington boundary. It helps that I have already got a lot of relationships with community groups (including the Barbican on the Imagine Fund grant programme and the Guildhall National Open Youth Orchestra). And we’ve got the Museum of London on board this year.

Q: As you prep for the festival what are your favourite things to do in White Cross Street?

• Love going to Fwd:Coffee shop, 161a White Cross Street. They do the best frappucino. And they’ve got such a nice community vibe, there’s always a lot of people on laptops or reading a book. And have lovely big windows.
• You can get amazing food at Whitecross Street market Monday to Friday. My favourite is from a stall that do chicken katsu curry. They are really friendly, lovely people. We will be having a food market at the White Cross Street Party on 13-14 July. Check it out.
• Off Whitecross Street is Fortune Park, EC1. Access is via a little, dark walkway, you come out and it’s a really lovely park with coffee shop and play park for kids.
• I like looking at the street art on Whitecross Street. There’s always something unique to see. They are everywhere from walls to power boxes. I’m always curious what new things I can see, so I’ll stop and look at the detail. Taking a moment up close your perspective changes.
• There’s an amazing arts centre on Roscoe Street, kind of hidden, Kunstarum arts centre. They do lot of short film evenings, mini festivals and meditation in a really nice space. I sometimes pop in for a cup of tea and go to some of their events.

Find out more

• 2024 Whitecross Street Party is from 13-14 July, 12 noon – 6pm. It’s completely free. Lots of info at https://www.wxstreetparty.co.uk/
• Insta, FB: @wxstreetparty
  TikTok: @wxstreetparty_
• Follow Georgia on insta @SelfCareQueen or see her website
• Georgia is also co-founder of insta dopeblackqueers

Over to you
If you’d like to nominate someone to be interviewed who grew up, lives or works in Islington, or suggest yourself, please let me know, via nicolabaird dot green at gmail dot com. If you enjoyed this post you might like to look at the A-Z  index, or search by interviewee’s roles or Meet Islingtonians to find friends, neighbours and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Nicola