Campaigns
Fun Palaces has always been a campaign for cultural democracy: the idea that everyone gets to decide what counts as culture – and that joy, shared, is a kind of power.
Culture is political
Everyone gets to decide what counts as culture
Not just galleries and theatres – the food we cook, the songs we sing, the way we gather and the way we protest. When communities come together to make culture, they find out they can change other things too.
Our campaigns make that case, loudly – and give you simple ways to join in, whatever time or energy you have.
Fun is the foundation
of collective power.
Ria Patel, Campaigns Manager
What we’re campaigning for
The campaigns
Big ideas, made small enough to do on your street.
Our current campaign
Culture: It’s What We Make
An invitation to redefine the word culture entirely. It isn’t something we attend or consume – it’s how we live and how we gather, and it’s made in everyday moments. We’re spotlighting Makers’ stories to prove it.
Radical fun
Fun is not frivolous
Play builds trust, mixes generations and turns strangers into collaborators. Ria on community care, intersectionality and why joy is serious.
Speaking up
Creative Riots
Placards, protest songs, stitched banners and tiny protests: creative ways for communities to say what they need – and be heard.
Connection
1000 Tiny Revolutions
Success doesn’t have to mean bigger and louder. Small acts of connection, everywhere at once, add up to something powerful.
Climate
Climate-friendly Fun Palaces
Reuse, borrow and share, keep it local and choose creativity over consumption: Ria’s guide to Fun Palaces that respect and protect the planet.
Bigger conversations
Makers’ voices, nationally
Makers and the Support Hub took community voices to the Convention on the Fate of Britain – and our Impact Report sets out ten years of evidence for everyday culture.
Meet Fun Palaces’ Campaigns Manager
Ria Patel (they/she)
Ria leads Fun Palaces’ campaigns. They describe themself as a disrupter: their campaigning started with climate action, migrant justice and Queer liberation, locally and nationally. They’re also Croydon’s youngest-ever and first non-binary councillor.
At Fun Palaces, Ria is making the case that culture belongs to everyone – and helping Makers turn community joy into community power.
“Culture definitely doesn’t have to be perfect – often it’s better when it’s not. And when we choose connection over perfection, we aren’t just making, we are participating in democracy, community and culture.”
Ria Patel, Campaigns Manager
Get involved
Find your way in
Pick whatever fits your time and energy. Every one of these counts.
Got 5 minutes?
Get the toolkit
Our Campaigning Toolkit has quick, practical ways to start campaigning in your community.
Got an afternoon?
Start a Creative Riot
Make a placard, write a protest song or stitch a banner with your neighbours. Small, creative, and it gets people talking.
Got a story?
Share your Maker Story
Did your Fun Palace lead to something bigger – a new group, a petition, a friendship? Tell Ria. We’d love to share it.
Want to shape what’s next?
Join the Campaigns Working Group
Help decide what Fun Palaces campaigns on next, and how. No experience needed – just care about your community.
Want to meet others?
Join the Maker Network
A space for the people who make Fun Palaces to support one another, share ideas and have more say.
Ready to make it happen?
Make a Fun Palace
The next Weekend of Action is 1-3 October 2027 – or make one any time of year. Big, small or tiny, it all counts.
Read more
Big Thinks
Longer reads on culture, community and the politics of play.
Something in your community needs to change?
Fun Palaces started as a campaign, and it still is one. Whether it’s climate, who gets a say in your town or a space that’s about to close, Ria would love to hear what matters to you.