Sybil Cock talked to Saif Osmani, one of the founders of the festival which is happening now and is in its third year

The festival aims to celebrate working-class heritage, culture and stories of the past with strong links to the present. Saif and his co-founder Andy Green are trying to promote something which goes beyond the caricatures of the East End of London. As Saif says,

‘We challenge a narrative that “Cockney is dying” by celebrating how it is an evolving community, containing diverse backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs, offering a powerful resource for overcoming adversity, tackling social prejudice, and building greater togetherness for anyone with an affinity with non-posh Londoners.’

There are many forms of Cockney in the East End, most recently Deshi Cockney. The illustration here shows a Pearly Burka – the organisers have good contact with the Pearly Kings and Queens, who wear the traditional dress on occasions.

The dialect is not dying but is under threat, like Scouse, Brum, Geordie and Scots, from creeping gentrification. The best example is Brick Lane, home to successive generations of (usually very poor) migrants including Jews from Eastern Europe and more recently Bangladeshis, which is now an ‘over-curated takeover’.

Locals are driven out by inequalities in housing and transport and replaced by hipsters who often ape the language in what is sometimes called Mockney.

Cockney has its roots in the language of the costermongers and the wholesale markets of the East End, which are all moving further east along with the working-class population. Saif was drawn to Cockney by the campaign to save Queen’s Market in Upton Park, Newham, from redevelopment. 

He reckons there may now be more pie and mash shops in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, than in Tower Hamlets. The festival is encouraging pie and mash shops (there are halal and vegan ones) to apply for Regional Status for the food – the East End’s very own Camembert!

The festival has collaborated with a good range of campaigns and East End institutions: the Cable Street Mural, the Matchwomen’s Festival, Save Brick Lane, the Cable Street commemorations and the rich variety of local museums and archives.

The organisers have successfully petitioned Tower Hamlets Council to have Cockney recognised as a community language – this is in progress and is supported by a 2024 academic paper from Warwick University.

The programme, which runs from the fird of the fird to the forf of the forf, can be found here, and the Modern Cockney Manifesto is here. (That’s 3 March to 4 April to the rest of you). You can hear more about Saif and Andy’s work on this recent Radio 4 Word of Mouth program with Michael Rosen.