Every April and October, the George Irvin Funfair comes to Crystal Palace Park for over 2 weeks, giving the children of Crystal Palace a fun activity to do over the holidays with their families. However, not everyone is overjoyed at the sight of the carnival.
                    One of the earliest memories from my childhood was my family and I visiting this funfair over the October Half term. We had recently seen an advert on the way to school and as I entered the grounds on the cool, October night with bright lights and loud noises swirling around in my head I felt extremely excited. Indeed, that night was my introduction to the infamous dodgems and haunted houses you would expect to find at the funfair as well as a slow, monotonous roller coaster, which to my young and inexperienced brain, was one of the highlights of my year. I remember telling my friends at school about my late-night experiences the next day, formulating plans for us all to go during the Spring Half Term.
      However, looking back at this now, with additional layers of hindsight, I have lost a lot of fondness and joy I had for that night. As someone who actively enjoys going to Crystal Palace Park, whether on a run or going out with my friends, I now realise the negative and long lasting impact of the funfair on the local community. Often, when the funfair is in town, one can find more traces of rubbish and food waste scattered across the park than there would be usually, encouraging rats. When asked about their experience with the funfair, Cindy Sethi, age 48, replied "I can recall coming across one of the famous sphinx statues in the park, soon after the funfair ended, covered in graffiti". A lot of space is also taken up in the park, making manoeuvring around it increasingly difficult and you will often find many parts of the park, including the lake, to be completely cut off as well as increased traffic in the area at the time.
            To this day, I have a more nuanced view toward this Funfair. Looking at this from one perspective, it manages to entertain thousands of children and families during the holidays but on the other hand, creates a negative lasting impact on the area. However, I think going forward, the company running the funfair could do more to minimise the rubbish at these events to ensure everyone can enjoy it.