Organiser of Peckham Rye Park International Youth Day event wants bigger celebration next year

Families who celebrated International Youth Day with an arts and culture picnic hope to stage a much bigger event next year with the help of donations.

This year there were  artists and some freestyle music to accompany the art at the picnic in Peckham Rye Park.

But organiser Darcy Thomas wants more in 2021.

He said: “I have always been an advocate of International Youth Day since its inception, but realised we fail to celebrate this day properly in the UK.”

Darcy wanted to put the event on to celebrate being young, and also to generate “creative flow”.

He said: “Within seconds the children were engaged, singing along with the artists while painting on canvas.

“The parents and youth workers insisted this was the most calm they had ever seen them.

“By infusing free flow music and art to the picnic, I could delve into something new which could help young people in the future and look at mental health and creative outlets in a new light.”

Read more about International Youth Day, marked every August 12 since 1999, at @internationalyouthdayuk and  #31DaysofYouth.

Pictured top: Families celebrate International Youth Day in Peckham Rye Park