To spot Fairfield Halls, look straight ahead for a large, bold concrete building with big glass panel windows and a massive “Fairfield” sign perched above a colourful theatre poster right at its centre.
Welcome to the famous Fairfield Halls-Croydon’s own palace of performance and the heartbeat of local entertainment for over half a century! You’re standing where some of the world’s greatest acts have taken the stage, and where echoes of laughter, music, and applause still seem to linger in the air. Imagine, if you will, the year is 1962. The doors swing open to this gleaming new beacon on what was once simply Croydon’s “Fair Field”-not fields of wheat or hay, but grounds where fairs once bustled with showmen, food stalls, and the hum of excitement, right up until the 1860s. Skip forward, past its days as a humble car park and even its time housing wartime air raid shelters. That spot beneath your feet might once have sheltered Croydonians during the Blitz!
When the Halls first opened, they were something of a dream for a town on the up-three grand spaces inside: the main concert hall, the Ashcroft Theatre, and the Arnhem Gallery-ready to welcome everyone from school choirs testing their lungs to world-class musicians testing their speakers. Fancy watching Croydon’s biggest cinema screen? This is where you’ll find it, tucked inside the concert hall, where the popcorn’s always fresh, and the sound is upgraded to surround you in Dolby digital glory. Speaking of surround sound, the BBC fell in love with the place for their recordings, from orchestra to radio, sometimes causing a rush for good seats on Fridays. Rumour has it, if you listen very closely, you can still hear the leftover laughter from a stand-up comedy night or the echoes of Bowie’s electric guitar.
Now, over the years, Fairfield Halls has survived quite a few plot twists. Take its spectacular closure in 2016 for a jaw-dropping £30 million redevelopment-let’s just say Croydon’s planners probably needed some of that theatre popcorn by the end of it! After a Charlie Chaplin-worthy shuffle of budgets and blueprints, its grand reopening came in 2019, a confetti moment with the Talawa Theatre Company moving in, jazzing up the halls with their own brand of brilliance. Not long after, the whole place pivoted in truly dramatic fashion to become a mass vaccination centre during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just imagine: needles instead of trumpets, and applause for the NHS rather than the actors!
Music lovers, this is your shrine. Elton John, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Pink Floyd-these walls have vibrated with their tunes. In fact, Bowie and Morrissey once sat backstage here. But if you’re more into flying elbows than flying notes, guess what? Fairfield Halls was also London’s wrestling hotspot! Stages would descend mechanically, transforming in minutes for wrestling rings-imagine Croydon’s toughest grapplers tumbling just metres from where you stand. Not to mention, some acts started here before they made it big. Captain Sensible, before he became a punk icon, used to clean the toilets at Fairfield Halls and was inspired to chase stardom after watching T. Rex perform. That’s what you call a bathroom break with a destiny twist!
From glitzy stage shows to schoolkids shyly belting out their first solos, this venue has always kept its doors open to the Croydon community. It’s where grandparents remember their first classical concert, and where kids dream of starring in the spotlight. The walls are bursting with stories-a birthday concert for its 50th anniversary, attended by royalty, and a massive online archive with 2,000 images preserving its colorful legacy. And movie fans, here’s a little trivia for your next pub quiz: the concert hall features in The Da Vinci Code.
So, as you stand here, gaze up at those bright signs and big windows and imagine all that energy-one building, but endless stories. Enjoy the moment, and maybe, if you’re feeling brave, belt out a show tune or two! Just don’t worry about your singing voice. After all, with so many legends echoing in the halls, Croydon could probably use another… even if it’s you!
