The Music is Black Festival from East Bank is in full swing at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Spanning eight months, it features four co-curated summer weekends of live music and performance across the Park, and is the first jointly led programme from East Bank partners, showcasing their creativity, collaboration, and community.
As someone who has lived and worked in east London for many years, I know just how much Black music has shaped our culture, communities, identities and sense of belonging. It tells stories, creates opportunities and brings generations together.
That’s why it’s essential that, while we celebrate the pioneers who came before us, we also create opportunities for emerging talent in a wide range of roles.
As part of that commitment, we’re working with East Bank through the Good Growth Hub to deliver the East Bank Creative Academy.
The Good Growth Hub connects local talent with the Park’s businesses, venues and East Bank institutions, helping people access careers in London’s fastest-growing sectors, including the creative industries, through skills training and employment support.
The Music is Black Festival brings this mission to life, linking local talent to one of the capital’s most exciting cultural programmes.
The Academy is open to 18 to 30-year-olds and has recruited a cohort of creative freelancers to support festival weekends. Roles include production assistants, videographers, content editors, audio and lighting engineers, and photographers.
It offers early-career creatives paid experience, plus mentoring from industry professionals and support with brand building and business development.
The creative industries are notoriously difficult to enter, with barriers often persisting without the right connections.
Our work with East Bank builds on the Park’s Inclusive Talent programme, creating pathways into the creative industries and strengthening one of London’s key growth sectors.
Alongside freelance opportunities, the Good Growth Hub will host three career events, each linked to a live weekend theme.
Rather than formal careers advice, participants will take part in co-designed sessions with industry professionals, to understand how freelance careers in the creative sector work and to build important connections.
The events are open to 18 to 30-year-olds in Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Dates will be confirmed and bookable via the Good Growth Hub website in early July.
Black British music has been pivotal in shaping culture, creating movements and changing lives. Now it's time to invest in the people who are building its future.
To sign up for the Festival Creative Academy career events, visit: goodgrowthhub.org.uk/events
To explore the full programme for The Music is Black Festival, go to: queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/themusicisblackfestival
- Vivian Murinde is head of Inclusive Growth and Skills at London Legacy Development Corporation.
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