East London Food & Culture

Beach East 2017 is here

The madly popular E20 resort opens tomorrow. Get there early to grab a spot

Family fun in a sand-coated olympic park. Photo: Beach East
Once again, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has been recast into a city beach – the largest in the UK in fact – for the summer months.

From July 21st, over 2,200 square metres of golden sand will be slathered over the site which hosts, alongside the Olympic pool, a giant paddling pool and a wide selection of funfair rides (including dodgems and rollercoasters). There is also a giant screen playing everything, from movies to sports.

There are food stalls – burgers, hot dogs, ice cream and the like – as well as the Tropicana Beach Bar, which has some reasonable two for a tenner cocktails on offer.

Boozing potential aside, like Westfield’s forest, the beach is primarily intended to cater for families. Think more along the lines of quickly gulping down a mojito while the kids construct castles than unwinding in an urban retreat, best mate on the deckchair to your left, long island iced tea clasped in your right hand.

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This said, on Sep 3rd the beach will be transformed into an Afro-Caribbean party, the over 18s event injecting a more mature twist to sandy shores – funfair rides aside. Hosted by Afrobeach, the event will celebrate the culinary, musical and cultural offerings of Africa and the Caribbean, with beach volleyball, DJs and access to all of the beach’s rides adding to the festivities.

Entry to Beach East is £2, £1 under 12s, free under 3s. Beach East Amusement Park is open from Fri July 21st until Sat Sep 2nd. Mon-Fri, 12pm-9pm, weekends 10am-9pm. More info here.

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