The night itself
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The Big Meet ✕ Candler Creative
Community Fest 2026
Eighteen communities took over fifteen spaces at Vauxhall Arches for one night, and turned a set of railway arches into a roller rink, a runway, a podcast studio, a tango floor and a poetry stage. Thank you to everyone who ran something, performed, helped out, or simply turned up.
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To every community, host, volunteer and guest who came through the arches: thank you. We saw communities collaborate and cross-pollinate on a scale we’d never seen before. People got to try new communities and experiences for the first time, all under one roof, and watched these communities support each other and build together. For us, that’s the start of something beautiful.
We’re also looking hard at how we make the community feel right for everyone going forward, guests and participants alike. We want people to feel comfortable enough to step out of their comfort zone and walk in ready to find their new community, or a few of them. Your feedback is a big part of that, so we’d really love to hear from you.
This only gets better if we hear what worked and what didn’t. Two short surveys — pick whichever fits. It genuinely shapes the next one.
If you brought a community, ran an activation, performed or helped on the night — we want the honest version. What the space was like, what you needed, what we should do differently.
Founder survey →If you bought a ticket and spent the night wandering between arches — tell us what you loved, what you’d change, and whether you found your people.
Attendee survey →Empowr Skating turned Mirror Arch into a disco on wheels, and kept it full all night.
Frame Perfect’s Fashion is Art ran for nearly four hours — exhibition, performance and a runway show in one room.
FORE filled FIRE Lounge for a live podcast, straight after twenty people met five strangers each in half an hour.
Raph played live as the Garden filled, leading into Dan and Adrian’s speech.
Rebel Choir appeared in the Garden without warning, sang, and melted back into the crowd. The one thing we kept off the schedule.
Super Stara Store × Miss Sepi Art took over Lightbox for 45 minutes of fashion, sound and performance.
House of Tango, Thought Experiments in Public, Art4Space and Dare to Speak ran the quieter corners all evening.
Polaroids, signatures and a directory of who was in the room and what they were looking for.
Fifteen spaces across the arches, the garden and the rooftop — each one run by a different community, doing the thing they do best. No single stage, nothing to book, and five hours to drift between all of it.
Empowr Skating turn an arch into a rink — disco ball, disco DJ, skates on.
Frame Perfect bring a runway show and a living exhibition — fashion, film, poetry and dance in one room.
FORE turn FIRE Lounge into a live podcast studio — speed networking, a run of panels recorded in front of the room, then games, a DJ and a social space.
Meet five new people in 25 minutes. Five rounds of four minutes in facing rows — one side moves down a seat each time, a host runs it on the mic, and a prompt card on every seat tells you what to cover. Twenty places, first come first served, sign up at the door. Optional, and if it fills up there's a second sitting during the social hour.
Three things to do from the moment you walk in. A Polaroid taken at the door that you write your name on. The in-person directory — a card saying what you do, who you're looking for and what you can offer, pinned up next to your photo and grouped so anyone can find you. And the signing wall, a FORE logo wall to sign and use as a photo backdrop.
In partnership with Out Late Studio, FORE's podcast studio partner.
Super Stara Store × Miss Sepi Art — an immersive fashion and performance piece about how culture travels with us.
Reztron take the rooftop with retro consoles, big screens and a watch-party corner.
House of Tango teaching, dancing and sharing it — lessons and a tango social, all night.
Dare to Speak bring a poetry showcase with four headliners, plus an open mic. Sign-up is first come, first served.
Art4Space set up on the rooftop terrace through the evening — just turn up and make something.
Obsessed Cr3ative run three things at once — a live filmed session, a discovery table and a connections wall.
A mini version of Obsessed Cr3ative's full Crafted series. Artists sign up on the night, fill in a short curation form and get a time slot — then go and enjoy the rest of the festival. By the time you're back, the team has curated the space and handed your track to the DJ. You perform twice: once with the track playing out to the whole room, once on headphones. Professional video and photos follow afterwards, and you can put your name down for the full series on the night. Slots run 5–10pm with breathing room in between.
The OC team on hand with folders, photos and films from past events — artists, dancers, exhibitions, the manga night. See the fourteen creative services they offer, from branding to rollout strategy, meet Jamie their graphic designer, and find out how to collaborate, join, or put your name down for a Crafted or Kuhaku session.
A wall for finding the people you need. Three cards: “My project is…” saying what you're building and who you're looking for, “I am a…” saying what you make and what you're after, and a response card you pin to anyone else's. Write one, pin it up, read the wall, reply to whatever grabs you. Someone's always there to explain how it works.
Thought Experiments in Public take the bench tables all evening — big questions, learn together, anyone welcome to pull up a seat and explore.
House Ov Green run a one-stop-shop hub — members showing and selling what they make, plus hosted networking slots for entrepreneurs through the evening.
Plus, through the night:
A capoeira performance out in the garden — the Brazilian martial art that's half fight, half dance, all rhythm. Catch it as you come in.
A flash choir that appears without warning, sings, and melts back into the crowd. On the night they appeared in the Garden at 7.30pm, sang, and were gone.
A mental embrace from practical philosophy. Facilitated conversations that actually go somewhere — two 25-minute sessions an hour, a few easy ground rules, and topics you can suggest yourself. Everything from dropping anchor in the present to the self as a process, or what makes a good dialogue in the first place. You end up somewhere you wouldn't have reached alone.
Steve Roche and Cilla Hall run “Get Ready to Build”, a short practical workshop for anyone starting or growing a community. About 25 minutes, repeated through the evening, small groups.
Liars & Friends run games of Mafia all evening: the social deduction game where a few players are secretly the Mafia and everyone else has to work out who's lying. Join a round and see how good your poker face is.
A row of community and creative stalls by the front entrance — makers, merch and people happy to tell you what they're about.
How the five hours actually ran. Most spaces were open the whole evening; these were the things that happened once.
Running all night, 5–10pm
The run of the night
The full timeline, space by space, is still up on the schedule page.
Whether you ran something or just turned up — we read every single one.