Charter Square Sheffield: New musical 'pocket park' set to open today in city centre

The official opening of the Musical Pocket Park at Charter Square, behind the old Debenhams store and next to The Light cinema, is due to take place on Saturday, May 27, at 11am. The park will have 11 percussion instruments – three xylophones, four drums and four tubular bells – available for anyone to play.

Professional percussionist Michael Armitage is due to demonstrate the instruments with a performance at the opening, and the goal is that music lessons will be held there in future and the site will host regular concerts.

The park will honour the amazing musicians Sheffield has produced, with a plaque listing some of the city’s most famous artists, from the Arctic Monkeys to The Human League, and a QR code providing a link for people to learn more about them and listen to their songs.

People are now being sought to sponsor the instruments for £1,500 each, with the money raised going towards music lessons and organising performances and other community events at the park.

It is hoped that some of Sheffield’s musicians, their fan clubs or other people or businesses with a musical connection will pay to sponsor the instruments, with each contribution being acknowleged with a dedication plaque.

The park has been five years in the making. It was first proposed by the Sheffield city centre residents’ association ChangingSheff, with funding coming from section 106 planning payments to Sheffield Council, but the project was put on hold due to Covid. It was originally intended for Fountain Square, at Barker’s Pool, but the Covid Memorial took precedence.

The new pocket park is just a short walk from Pound’s Park, which opened last month but is closed for two weeks while work is carried out to connect the water play facilities there and finish installing the public toilets.

Peter Sephton, chair of ChangingSheff, said: “This is a new kind of pocket park in the city centre which aims to provide an opportunity to play high quality musical instruments by every age and ability. Funds raised from instrument dedications will enable us to offer open air lessons to anyone interested in learning how to play by using part time teachers, for example on Saturday mornings, to get budding musicians involved.”

He added: “Our aspiration is to develop an open air percussion school to create a band of new talent who can entertain the public with their acquired skills. Anyone interested in dedicating an instrument can contact ChangingSheff through the website. People who can already play or teach percussion instruments are also urged to get in touch to discuss involvement in the project.”

If you are interested in sponsoring an instrument, email [email protected].