Greenwich Council has allowed the borough to be renamed “GreenWitch” for a fortnight to help fund a winter festival in Charlton Park later this month.
The stunt is to tie in with the release of the new film Wicked, billed as “the untold story of the witches of Oz”, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, which is released in cinemas next week.
The cash-strapped borough’s ceremonial mayor, Jit Ranabhat, unveiled a plaque at the Greenwich Foot Tunnel on Tuesday morning to launch the partnership between the council and Universal Pictures.
Visitors can follow a “GreenWitch” trail available from the tourist information centre, taking in “GreenWitch” High Road, and the “GreenWitch” Picture House, while there has also been a branded takeover of “GreenWitch” Market. The University of “GreenWitch” is also allowing itself to be renamed.
The takeover does not affect areas outside the town centre or other parts of the borough. It follows controversy last year over Transport for London allowing branded takeovers of Tube stations such as Bond Street – which became Burberry Street for London Fashion Week – although for GreenWitch only a handful of signs have been changed.
Greenwich Council would not say how much it was being paid for the mayor’s time and the rebranding, but the cash will help fund the £190,000 cost of the Sparkle in the Park winter lights festival in Charlton Park, which begins on November 28 and runs to December 1.
As part of a £33.7 million package of cuts approved by councillors earlier this year, the annual festival is now likely to cut back to run every other year once this month’s event is over.
Ranabhat said in a statement issued by Universal: “Move over Emerald City, welcome to the Royal Borough of GreenWitch! We’re thrilled to partner with Universal Pictures on this exciting, free experience for residents and visitors to enjoy.
“As the home of Wicked for the next two weeks, ‘GreenWitch’ will be even more ‘popular’ than ever and we can’t wait to welcome new visitors to our corner of the capital, boosting local businesses and supporting our ambitious culture strategy vision to be a place where creativity flourishes.
“And to top it all off, this magical partnership will help fund our hugely popular free, festive light trail, Sparkle in the Park for 2024 – and local students at will get the opportunity to gain invaluable knowledge from an industry leading expert.”
Tourism bosses hope the tie-in will be a further boost to tourism, which has bounced back strongly after the pandemic. In 2022, visitors brought in £1.49 billion to the borough, supporting 17,000 jobs.
Barrie Kelly, the chief executive of the Visit Greenwich tourist agency, said: “Greenwich is internationally known for being located on the Prime Meridian, 0° Longitude. It is where east meets west and the Wicked movie has a similar theme.
“‘GreenWitch’ is a fun play with our Greenwich name, and we’re thrilled to be working with Universal to be part of the publicity for Wicked. As one of the UK’s most popular film locations, Greenwich welcomes millions of visitors every year who are ‘setjetting’ to visit their favourite places seen in films, TV and related events.”
The “GreenWitch” trail is available at visitgreenwich.org.uk/greenwitch.
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