Had a great day at the Taste of Caribbean Festival, but I will raise a few niggles. Lots of security, no re-entrance, plenty of toilets and hand washing stations, NO facilities providing free drinking water. Queues for the refreshments and food were ridiculously long. However, the weather was perfect and the vibe great. Performers and DJ were excellent. But please, in future, provide free water stations or give out free water bottles!

Lovely little park. As its now summer and a sunny day you can treat yourself to a ice-cream or a cuppa. Great for families with children with the play area. For the older crowd Tennis and bowls is available. There is 2 band stands don't know if they are used.. In general the park seems well maintained and kept tidy

Lovely park. Kids enjoyed themselves. One small play park and a older kids play park attached. Next to Beckenham Beacon Hospital.

Nice place to walk the dog. Flat and lots of benches to sit on. And of course there's the David Bowie bandstand.

We went here for a home ed meet up with friends on a Monday morning. The park felt safe, welcoming and was very clean. Lots of space for families to move around and some great equipment. Very wheelchair accessible too. It also had a nicely sized filled paddling pool. Personally, I think this is the best playground in the area by miles.

Great place to catch a breath after work or just have a quiet walk in the evening. Plenty of benches to have a sit and read a book or contemplate life Park smells fantastic in the evening mid May ,when various plants start blossoming. Even during a sunny days , it doesn't get too busy. If u play tennis ,there are 8 courts at your disposal (you have to buy a membership which is only a small annual fee). Annoying things are dog owners that let their dogs run freely everywhere without leash - it shouldn't be allowed ( some time ago one dog grabbed my sandwich and the owner lady found it funny)

Taste of Caribbean Festival Fun day eating jerk, drinking rum, and dancing in the sunshine listening to reggae. Was a good day, and I'll be there next year!!!! vip tix - next year make it vip worthy, toilets cool but not enough. Tables closer to stage, and more food and drink places so no need to leave encloser x

I don't often venture to leafy Beckenham, but ever since reading Lesley-Ann Jones’s excellent Bowie biography, Hero, I’ve had it on my list to visit ‘Bec Rec’ (now Croydon Road Recreation Ground), to witness the famous 'Bowie Bandstand', centrepiece of his August 1969 Growth Summer Festival, which helped launch his career. As my son was playing a football fixture in nearby Bromley, I snatched the opportunity. I didn’t have long there, just twenty mins or so. Unless you’re a Bowie fanatic, you probably wouldn’t spend hours here. As with any pop music shrine, you just want to take it in, snap it, and move on. The Croydon Road entrance is typical late 19th century Victorian. Behind wrought iron gates, lies that surreal spray of petunias and geraniums you so often see in parks, one of the few things at which city councils are universally adept. You instantly understand why Bowie chose this place for his spiritual gathering. I entered with a strange mix of impressions: momentousness, and mundaneness. I imagine Bowie felt similar emotions about this park, and the rather asphyxiating normality which surrounds it, while teleporting himself from suburbia to superstar. The bandstand itself sits to your right as you enter the park, and I have to admit I missed it at first. As I approached it, I stopped short, put in my earbuds, and put on ‘Memories of a Free Festival' (the song Bowie wrote about the event). The lyrics are magical, and give a fascinating insight into his recollections of the day – almost like a lyrical diary entry. I would give the park itself five stars, but as my mission was solely to see the bandstand, I’m giving it four. The blame for that lies with whoever has failed to maintain this cultural icon. Today, the woodwork, and ironwork are rotting away. I was also disappointed to see there is no plaque to mark its place in rock folklore. All that said, tomorrow might be different. I am heartened to see that a group called the Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground are in the process of securing funding, and a schedule of restoration. Once their work is done, hopefully, the memories of Bowie’s free festival will never be forgotten.

This is generally a good park to go to any day of the week with the little one or just to chill out. However, I attended the Taste of Caribbean event held there. Whilst it was a nice day I personally do not think the event was managed well in terms of staff and wait times in queues. People were waiting for up to 2 hours to get a “taste” of the food only to get there and find that many items were sold out. This was well before the event was near to ending. Therefore, the amount of food ordered wasn’t enough, or the portion control was … out of control. Should the event be held there again there definitely needs to be better organisation, as even to get tickets for the fair ground rides was a ridiculously long wait in a very long queue.

It was great to visit this place for the Taste of the Caribbean event on 2 July. Lots of vendors, lots of families and people, music and good weather. A perfect day.

Don't get me wrong, 3 out of 5 ain't bad. We went here specifically because it had paddling pool and playground. Looked good on Google and it was a red-hot day. The paddling pool is hazardous. The filter pump was running and water clear, but the pool bottom slopes down to the centre, there are no flat bits. It is slippery and kids were slipping over frequently. The joints in pool surface are broken, been repaired poorly and painted over a few times. Still, it is cool and fun as long as you take care. Great shady grassy areas around for picnics etc. and for keeping an eye out on the play. Playground has great and varied equipment, each with soft material to land on. Some quite challenging. Even good trees to climb and bushes to explore. The areas between equipment is tarmac and brick, so watch young children when they move quickly from one to the next. Also there are open areas for ball games and other fun sports. Cafe and toilets a good walk away near tennis courts. Didn't use either. Would go again.

Known by the locals as 'Bec Rec'. A lovely little park at the end of Beckenham High Street, includes a kids play area with paddling pool

What a great park to take the kids to. It's got loads of stuff for little ones and the bigger ones. It even has a lido in the summer. Which is great for a dip to cool off.

Carribean Food Festival 02.07.2022. Spent 1hr to get into event even tho i had tickets. Had to wait an 1hr 40 mins for food from the stall Brownins and they had run out of the jerk chicken meal. Absolutely ridiculous.!!!!!!!

Grandchildren had a great time playing in the paddling pool and on the swings , climbing things etc . Pool wasn't as clean as I would have liked but at least they didn't need to use the toilets because I have heard they are disgusting

I went there for the fireworks so this review is heavily biased by that experience. In terms of a venue for fireworks 🎆 I don't think it served well. I felt squashed and compacted. The rides were close together and the food retailers were a bit if a stretch. Very long ques which is not the best when you have children. Fortunately we went to wimpy before so leas of an issue but it would of been nice to get doughnuts. The entrance is too narrow for major events and the serving pavements makes it a bit if a hazard as you at times need to venture out on the road in order to mobilise. I can imagine in the day good for dog walkers. Good size playground. Parking facilities near by. Improvements would be to landscape that land. It has these weird creator like unevenness not shure what's going on there. Have wider openings to make events more manageable.

It's a very nice place for the kids to play. It has nice walking paths.Good for jogging/walking as well. It has different kinds of swings and slides and many other small rides... Very big and has a separate area for walking dogs.

Came to the Soul Town Festival on Saturday and Sunday September 2022. We were lucky with the weather which was warm and dry. There was plenty of good choice of food and I was able to relive my early twenties listening to the music of the 80s! The atmosphere was lovely! Thanks to the lovely couple Will and Maisey, who insisted on buying us drinks. Thanks to the lovely woman and her friends who insisted on sharing her churros with me. People were so friendly. I'll look out for it next year.

This is a great place to go with young kids in the summer! I love this place. So, it has a play park, a lido and lots of grass areas. It has a sort of cafe thing in certain seasons and of course in the summer there's always an ice-cream van. This park often hosts events during the summer that are really good fun for kids. I really miss having this park near me. There is plenty of parking too.

Beckenham Firework Display at Croydon Recreation Ground is one of the best in London, in my opinion. If you haven't been and you get the chance next year, give it a try. You shouldn't be disappointed, I never have. Amazing fireworks display alongside laser light show, all set to music. There's a smaller display an hour/ hour and a half before the main display with less bangs and blasts for the little ones/ those with a nervous disposition. Funfair and food stalls for before and after the displays. Excellent place to celebrate bonfire night ( although there's no bonfire) and its usually on Friday or Saturday over the closest weekend to the 5th of November. It's been held there for over 70 years and long may it continue.

This is a very pleasant local facility, with lovely flower beds and open spaces. Great to see so many young families playing cricket! With a bit of investment in the paddling pool and the bandstand it could become a great local day out in the summer. Hope to see an event here when everything returns to normal.

Lovely park excellent paddling pool in the summer and really good park things for toddlers as well as older children Toilets there even though are old and run down handy to have Lovely feilds and gardens also

Great park! Nice to have a walk around. Good playground for the kids. Has a paddling pool that is on daily from about Easter time. Seems to be turned off daily at approx 4/5pm. Little kiosk with ice cream and some hot food.

Worked at raver tots excellent family festival 😁😁

Great tennis courts. Plenty of running and dog walking space. Cafe closed so can’t comment on it.

Nice park to go to. Shops are round the corner. Hospital is outside the gates big outside swimming pool and park for kids to play