Strawberry Fields

Strawberry Fields is a monument dedicated to the world-famous singer, composer and peace activist John Lennon. During his career with The Beatles and his work as a solo artist, Lennon's music gave hope and inspiration for world peace, and his memory and mission live on in Strawberry Fields.

This peaceful area in Central Park was named after one of Lennon's favourite songs, 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. Recorded in 1966, the song's title comes from the name of an orphanage in Liverpool, England, which Lennon used to visit to play with the children. His aunt, who raised him, disapproved, but he insisted that it was 'nothing to get hung about', a quote which became a famous line in the song.

Strawberry Fields was officially dedicated on October 9th 1985, on the 45th anniversary of Lennon's birth. Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, worked with landscape artist Bruce Kelly and with Central Park Conservancy to create a place of meditation. The black and white mosaic was created by Italian artisans and presented as a gift from the city of Naples. Based on a Greek-Roman design, it bears the name of another of Lennon's songs: Imagine. A designated quiet area in the park, the monument sits in the shadows of majestic American elm trees and is surrounded by benches. In the warmer months, flowers decorate the entire area with colour. Along the pathway next to the mosaic, a bronze plaque can be found which lists the 121 countries who endorse Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace.