60,000 people participate in Fun Palaces weekend

It has been revealed that over 60,000 people took part in the recent Fun Palaces weekend in honour of Joan Littlewood's 100th birthday.

In the 1960s, Littlewood, along with architect Cedric Price, came up with the idea of a 'laboratory of fun', a temporary and movable home to the arts and sciences that would welcome children and adults alike. But they were never able to make the dream a reality.

So co-directors Stella Duffy and Sarah-Jane Rawlings set about bringing the Fun Palaces concept to life, and over the weekend of 4 October 2014 139 around the world venues offered up a range of free events.

Duffy and Rawlings said: "We have been gratified and astonished at the wave of goodwill, enthusiasm and determination that greeted our offer – the hundreds of people who said yes to creating for and with their own communities, and the tens of thousands who took part. We look forward to learning from and building on this pilot weekend as we begin work on Fun Palaces 2015."