Epping Forest will be transformed into a huge open-air theatre with performers taking to the trees as part of London’s first Borough of Culture initiative.
The show, inspired in part by Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale The Selfish Giant, is among a series of events including the return of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and award-winning choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne to the borough of Waltham Forest where they grew up.
Albarn is bringing Africa Express — the worldwide group of musicians he helped set up in 2006 — to Leytonstone for a five-hour show while Bourne will revisit his old primary school, Roger Ascham, where pupils will be coached by members of his dance company.
Also planned for the year-long celebration is a 25-metre-wide light sculpture, a mass bicycle ride through the borough, and a 48-hour film festival inspired by one of its most famous residents, Alfred Hitchcock.
Walthamstow’s award-winning William Morris Gallery will also host an exhibition on the influence of the Victorian designer on the Bauhaus movement, and works from the Government Art Collection will go on show in shop windows across the borough.
Council leader Clare Coghill said the plans were proof of the “transformative power of culture”.
She said: “It is not an optional add on, an afterthought, or something nice to have; investment in culture is essential to ensure that everybody in Waltham Forest enjoys a great quality of life.
“The imaginative programme will shine a light on the stories and cultural heritage of our borough. It will create a platform that is not only for the people, but by the people, blurring the line between residents and artists for the benefit of everyone in this community.”
Waltham Forest has built a reputation for the arts as artists priced out of inner London have moved there in recent years. Its Grade II-listed William Morris Gallery, home to the Victorian designer, writer and socialist activist for almost 10 years, was named Museum of the Year in 2013 and residents put on a regular art trail, opening their homes to visitors.
