The Industri[us] pop-up opened earlier this year

Second Meanwhile London competition winner in Canning Town closes permanently

Luke Jacobs Thursday, September 13, 2012
9:00 AM

Industri(us), the pop-up festival set up in Canning Town just before the Olympics, has closed permanently.

The attraction opened in time for the Games in a bid to attract necessary funds to become self-sufficient in the long term.

But the expected stream of visitors from the nearby DLR station failed to appear, leaving it short of cash.

The social enterprise, which contained a food market, vintage stalls and workshops, shut “temporarily” in August.

Kat Davis, a spokesman for site architects Fluid, said they received no financial support from Newham Council.

She said: “In light of the footfall being a lot smaller than we predicted we have taken the unfortunate decision to close.

“We had some very successful nights and had a really great turnout from the local community.

“Industri(us) had some good relationships with some fantastic groups in the area and the response was very positive.”

The festival closed days after the London Pleasure Gardens in Silvertown collapsed into administration due to infrastructure and organisational problems.

Both attractions won the Meanwhile London competition organised by London Mayor Boris Johnson, and Sir Robin Wales, the Newham Mayor.

The intention was to regenerate the former brownfield sites after the Olympics. The council sank £3.3million into the Pleasure Gardens and hundreds of traders, staff and contractors were left out of pocket.

Miss Davis said the failure of Industri(us) was even harder to bear because it was funded without any grants. She added: “In order for a temporary project to be eligible for grants, you need to be two years in the planning.”

Fellow Meanwhile London competition winner, the Canning Town Caravanserai, is still open for business, but has had to reduce its capacity.

Spokesman Lucy Schofield said: “We weren’t set up just (for the Games). It’s a slow burner and things are starting to happen.”