{"id":472616,"date":"2026-03-14T13:34:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/?p=472616"},"modified":"2026-03-14T13:34:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:34:39","slug":"free-elephant-and-castle-event-will-unveil-new-the-elephant-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/area\/elephant-and-castle\/free-elephant-and-castle-event-will-unveil-new-the-elephant-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Elephant and Castle event will unveil new The Elephant square"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Parts of the new Elephant and Castle development project will be unveiled to the public at the free Urban Elephant Festival,<\/strong> <em><strong>writes Romilly Schulte&#8230;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Saturday 21 March from 12pm to 6pm, the Urban Elephant Festival will take place for its fifth year across Walworth Town Hall Square, Sayer Street and Castle Square.<\/p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-tcf=\"waiting-for-consent\" data-id=\"69959\" data-bid=\"1\" data-placement=\"448384\" data-no-track=\"impressions\">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<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>The major attraction of this year&#8217;s celebrations will be a ceremony revealing The Elephant&#8217;s new square at 1pm, which will be attended by the Mayor of Southwark,  and Council leader Sarah King.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"560\" src=\"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-840x560.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-472682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-840x560.jpg 840w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-219x146.jpg 219w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-1320x880.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0301-ECurban-1140x760.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"560\" src=\"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-840x560.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-472683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-840x560.jpg 840w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-219x146.jpg 219w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-1320x880.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3040-ECurban-1140x760.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>John Whelan, Urban Elephant Artistic Director, said: &#8220;watching the festival reach its fifth year is a proud moment and we&#8217;re marking this milestone with our most ambitious programme yet. It really has become a cornerstone of our area&#8217;s cultural calendar.&#8221;<\/p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-tcf=\"waiting-for-consent\" data-id=\"68153\" data-bid=\"1\" data-placement=\"448385\" data-no-track=\"impressions\">PGRpdiBpZD0ic291dGgtMjYzOTYwNjI4MyIgY2xhc3M9InNvdXRoLWNvbnRlbnQgc291dGgtZW50aXR5LXBsYWNlbWVudCIgc3R5bGU9Im1hcmdpbi1sZWZ0OiBhdXRvO21hcmdpbi1yaWdodDogYXV0bzt0ZXh0LWFsaWduOiBjZW50ZXI7Ij48IS0tICAvMTU0NzI1MDcwLDIyNjk0MTk2OTY5L3NvdXRod2Fya25ld3Mvc291dGh3YXJrbmV3cyAtLT4NCjxkaXYgaWQ9ImRpdi1ncHQtYWQtMngxIj4NCjxzY3JpcHQ+DQpnb29nbGV0YWcuY21kLnB1c2goZnVuY3Rpb24oKSB7IGdvb2dsZXRhZy5kaXNwbGF5KCdkaXYtZ3B0LWFkLTJ4MScpOyB9KTsNCjwvc2NyaXB0Pg0KPC9kaXY+ICAgICAgICAgIDwvZGl2Pg==<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>This year&#8217;s programme promises diverse performances from a range of global artists and street entertainers, spread over four pitches in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Elephant&#8217;s square is part of the much-anticipated Elephant and Castle town centre development that is set to open this autumn, which will provide 135,000sq. ft of retail space and 485 new homes. <\/p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-tcf=\"waiting-for-consent\" data-id=\"71156\" data-bid=\"1\" data-placement=\"448386\" data-no-track=\"impressions\">PGRpdiBpZD0ic291dGgtMzk2OTkxNzY3NCIgY2xhc3M9InNvdXRoLWluLWFydGljbGUtbXB1OSBzb3V0aC1lbnRpdHktcGxhY2VtZW50Ij48IS0tICAvMTU0NzI1MDcwLDIyNjk0MTk2OTY5L3NvdXRod2Fya25ld3Mvc291dGh3YXJrbmV3cyAtLT4NCjxkaXYgaWQ9ImRpdi1ncHQtYWQtbXB1OSI+DQo8c2NyaXB0Pg0KZ29vZ2xldGFnLmNtZC5wdXNoKGZ1bmN0aW9uKCkgeyBnb29nbGV0YWcuZGlzcGxheSgnZGl2LWdwdC1hZC1tcHU5Jyk7IH0pOw0KPC9zY3JpcHQ+DQo8L2Rpdj4gICAgIDwvZGl2Pg==<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t wait to feature even more of the amazing local artists and businesses that make this such a special part of London,&#8221; added Whelan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More details of the festival can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/urbanelephant.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-tiktok wp-block-embed-tiktok\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"yD8o4Or6AZcWibN0P2CMTkkwnX3UR9sQjJi2GSUz8qOrjdPJ7sVXpSoIBvGhVt5mQHgzayFvF5YlfE1uxh0TlmeLaCZBWIE4b\"><blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@southwarknews\/video\/7517336475885735191\" data-video-id=\"7517336475885735191\" data-embed-from=\"oembed\" style=\"max-width:605px; min-width:325px;\"> <section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@southwarknews\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@southwarknews?refer=embed\">@southwarknews<\/a> <p>CGI footage shows what the <a title=\"elephantandcastle\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/elephantandcastle?refer=embed\">#elephantandcastle<\/a> <a title=\"tube\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/tube?refer=embed\">#tube<\/a> station and town centre development will look like when it\u2019s complete.  The brand new structure will replace the <a title=\"northern\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/northern?refer=embed\">#Northern<\/a> line tube entrance and includes provisional space for a future <a title=\"bakerloo\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/bakerloo?refer=embed\">#Bakerloo<\/a> line extension.  The Elephant town centre will be ready by early 2026. It includes 485 new homes, of which 172 will be affordable and 3 socially rented, as well as 55 new shops, restaurants and offices.  Read more about the plans here: https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/area\/elephant-and-castle\/cgi-footage-shows-what-elephant-and-castle-tube-station-will-look-like-in-five-years-time\/ <a title=\"southwarknews\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/southwarknews?refer=embed\">#southwarknews<\/a> <a title=\"londonnews\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/londonnews?refer=embed\">#londonnews<\/a> <a title=\"southwark\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/southwark?refer=embed\">#southwark<\/a> <a title=\"london\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/london?refer=embed\">#london<\/a> <a title=\"southlondon\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/southlondon?refer=embed\">#southlondon<\/a> <a title=\"southwarkcouncil\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/southwarkcouncil?refer=embed\">#southwarkcouncil<\/a> <a title=\"housing\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/housing?refer=embed\">#housing<\/a> <a title=\"elephant\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/elephant?refer=embed\">#elephant<\/a> <a title=\"redevelopment\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/redevelopment?refer=embed\">#redevelopment<\/a> <a title=\"tfl\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/tfl?refer=embed\">#tfl<\/a> <\/p> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"? original sound - Southwark News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-7517336464012266262?refer=embed\">? original sound &#8211; Southwark News<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parts of the new Elephant and Castle development project will be unveiled to the public at the free Urban Elephant Festival, writes Romilly Schulte&#8230; On Saturday 21 March from 12pm to 6pm, the Urban Elephant Festival will take place for its fifth year across Walworth Town Hall Square, Sayer Street and Castle Square. The major [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18930,"featured_media":472680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":"On Saturday 21 March from 12pm to 6pm, the Urban Elephant Festival will take place for its fifth year"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"77"},"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7375,77,13539,13602,13556],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-elephant-and-castle","category-featured","category-news","category-regeneration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472616"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":473826,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472616\/revisions\/473826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}