The troubled Woolwich Works cultural hub may have found the duo who can put it back on the right track – Jedward have been confirmed as playing a Eurovision festival there in May.
The twins, who shot to fame in The X Factor 15 years ago, will feature at the Eurosmash festival on May 4, a week before the final of the song contest takes place in the Swedish city of Malmö. They have represented Ireland twice in the contest, in 2011 and 2012.
Katrina Leskanich, who performed the UK’s 1997 entry Love Shine a Light, will also be performing at the day-long festival.
Subwoolfer, who represented Norway with Give that Wolf a Banana in 2022, will also perform, along with 2017’s runner-up for Bulgaria, Kristian Kostov, and Konstrakta, Serbia’s entry from 2022.
Belgium’s entry from last year’s contest in Liverpool, Gustaph, will also be taking part. The festival also features comedy, games, food stalls and merchandise.
The venue, which cost Greenwich Council £45 million to build, has had a troubled start since opening in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The trust that runs it had to be bailed out with £2 million of loans from the council, while last year a secret second bailout of £300,000 was revealed by The Greenwich Wire.
Woolwich Works was criticised for poor programming and promotion, with the borough’s tourism boss, Barrie Kelly, saying in December that it had chosen “a west London model that maybe Woolwich wasn’t ready for”.
But there have been signs of change at Woolwich Works – even if what is on offer still suffers from poor promotion. The cafe is now open seven days a week and offering space for people to work, and there is a weekly Sunday night quiz. The Nike Well festival will also be taking over Woolwich Works on March 2.
On February 23 the venue will host a stand-up comedy night for Ukraine, while the Offie Awards – which celebrate non-West End theatre – will take place there on February 25.
Tickets for Eurosmash currently start at £44.50 and are on sale at the Woolwich Works website.