Youth-Led Community Events

Young people designing and hosting festivals and large events

FYA runs a youth leadership programme in which groups of young people are supported to plan and deliver large community events such as street parties, festivals, football tournaments and community dinners.

Young people plan and deliver all aspects of the event. They host on stage, help set up, decorate and pack away, organise food, entertainment, customer service and all aspects of stewarding.

“I am quite proud to be a steward at FYA events – bringing people together and having positive experiences when things can feel quite tough. My mum had been part of FYA and started street party years ago so it feels quite cool for her to see me volunteering at it years later.”

“I really enjoy being a steward – I have done it now for a few years and I will keep coming back and doing projects and stewarding until I am over the age to take part I think. There are not many other opportunities to do things like this, serve 400 people meals or run events and feel supported the whole time.”

“I am glad I was part of the street party team. I am very shy but I was looking for an opportunity to do more design work and FYA encouraged me where I was able to create new banners for the event, completely designed by me. I will be able to take that experience into my portfolio for the future.”

“I always watched my sister and listened to how she spoke about her experiences at FYA and I realised I wanted to feel that too. I am happy I joined and have done a number of projects now. There is something special about FYA and how we get to meet people, have fun but also do things that make a difference.”

“I was surprised just how much I loved running Wonterland. It is more stressful than you think sometimes, as we had to change the stage order a couple of times and wanted to make sure everyone was having fun. It was great to see us come together as a team make this idea we had come to life and how we worked together. I am really grateful to FYA for helping see the skills I have and how to use them and also challenging myself.”

“There was something so special about seeing that many people in one room having a lovely time together. I don’t know anywhere else you can really do something like this. It special because its organised by people like us. I have gained so many skills I can take away into lots of jobs too.”

Regent's Roots Festival has become one of our largest events, now in its third year, organised and informed by different groups of residents in Regent's Park Estate each yeah. The festival is in collaboration with Old Diorama Arts Centre, bringing creativity, performance and arts together with community run and selected activities and local organisations serving over 1000 people throughout the event.

Each year the locations slightly shift to incorporate a different area of the estate. The first year of the festival was organised with Young Guardians, the second with Community Champions and this year has been organised with Young Placemakers. The theme of the festivals has ranged between wellbeing and wow, south Asian heritage month and most recently 'Play the Streets.'

Behind the scenes at Regents Roots Festival 2023:

Our annual Street Party and Community Dinner is our flagship event and we have run the event for over 20 years! The event is a celebration and thank you to our most local residents surrounding the Warren Pitch and Play Area and we welcome around 500 guests every year.

Every year we close Whitfield Street and 40-50 young people take over the street, pitch and play area to provide a fantastic and positive event for residents across Fitzrovia and Euston.

Street Party has our largest stage of the year and a full programme of youth talent and performances throughout. We also have dining tables set up for our guests to enjoy the stage and the delicious community dinner as part of the event. We also invite local partners to hold stalls and run activities for our community alongside our fantastic Youth Event Managers and Stewards on the day!

Behind the scenes at Street Party 2024:

Our annual Festive and Community Christmas Events are some of our most popular events of the year - One of our only indoor events, we welcome around 200 guests every year to share a roast dinner, be entertained by fantastic youth and community talent and have fun together at a time that can otherwise be quite isolating for many residents of all ages.

We have most regularly held our Community Christmas events at Indian YMCA in Fitzroy Square, where we have a stage and our 30+ youth stewards decorate the hall to feel really festive for all our guests. Each year we also try to work with local businesses and partnerships to provide additional support to our local residents, whether providing christmas crackers, decorations or even gifts for us to share with the families who attend. We also work with local organisations working with residents who may be more isolated during winter whether they are older living alone, have experienced homelessness or poor mental health or other reasons where a social event together may be positive for their wellbeing and mental health