you won't be unfamiliar with the concept of a "colour walk" by now, if you're a regular reader of this here blog, or avid stalker of my instagram, and you may even remember the debut london walk last year that i co-hosted - albeit nervously, as a favour to in colourful company founder toni. well, for must have done an ok back then because she asked me back to help out fellow hosts zabby and kim on this year's walk; a few weeks back now - on the hottest day london had ever seen, on a day when england re-wrote the world cup history books, the three of us took to the mean streets of east london once more, to lead the second annual in colourful company london colour walk.
the idea of in colourful company, is to bring colourful creatives together online, in safe spaces, and around a mutual love of the creative industries; independent business bosses; socially anxious self employed dudes; stay-at-home parents; basically anyone with an affection for colour and being nice to people online. it's that simple, really. and the idea of a colour walk? well, to meet up with your friends from the in colourful company community, have a walk and a chat, eat some food, and be really silly in front of many, many carefully curated photo opportunities. sounds pretty good, right?
this year's walk was a slightly different route than last year's, and - thankfully - included a couple of pit stops for sits, for drinks, and for giving up because it was so damn hot and giving up was a totally fair option. we weren't sure how many attendees to expect because of the heat, but on the day we saw more than fifty colourful creators from up and down the country (and even prague!) join us on a colourful jaunt around shoreditch's bright and colourful streets. say colourful again? colourful. we started at liverpool street, and followed a nifty little map all the way to the church gardens just off kingsland road - with many a zig-zag in between!
at the garden pit stop we were met with ice.cold.drinks thanks to the clever and quick thinking of an in colourful company community member who happens to work for le joli - i fizzy water brand, who had the incredible idea to bring the cold drinks to the hot walkers - instant success! the quick stop gave the squad some time to have a dig through this year's amazing goody bags (designed by zabby allen and printed by danni at elephant bum!), which were full to the brim with bits and pieces from some incredible indy creators in the community, as well as some awfully generous foody brands too.
with healthy, urban fruit snacks from gamatrition and delicious melty chocolate bars thanks to south east london brand doisy and dam - not to mention a literal shit ton of get fruity assorted snacks and bars, and vegan biscuits, cakes and the like coming at us from all angles, we were a very well-fed, and well-watered bunch of walkers! of the fifty plus attendees, we only lost a few throughout the walk due to the heat, which sort of gives you an idea of how much this community of kind, friendly folk like hanging out with each other. and, the fact that there are still photos going up on the #incolourfulcompany hashtag from the walk at the start of the month, proves just how much fun, colour, and creativity we found in the east end.
have you ever been on a colour walk? join the facebook group and find your local one now!
