Festival of the World at Southbank Centre

Celebrating the London 2012 Olympic Games with extraordinary gusto, the Festival of the World at Southbank Centre welcomes hundreds of international artists to the 21 acre site to transform the South Bank into an epicentre of cultural endeavour over the summer.

Summer festival
The second of three multi-disciplinary summer festivals that run throughout the celebrated arts venue and spill out onto the riverside, the Festival of the World at Southbank Centre opens just in time for the Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend and continues until the final day of the Paralympic Games. Thousands of people are expected to flock to the site over the summer to make the most of all of the special events taking place, which all draw on the theme of art as an agent of change.

Expand your mind
The Festival of the World at Southbank Centre has been inspired by the legacy of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement who passionately believed that art had the potential to change lives and raise aspirations in the same way as sport. During the festival, an exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall will use art, photos and archive material to celebrate the life of Pierre de Coubertin and place him alongside other educational pioneers such as Arnold J. Toynbee and John Ruskin.

Access all areas
A number of areas usually closed to the public will be accessible during the Festival of the World at Southbank Centre, giving you the chance to take a fresh look at the famous arts venue next to the Thames. During the festival, the Queen Elizabeth roof garden (created in partnership with the Eden Project) will be open to the public, and the recently refurbished Jubilee Gardens will also be open in time for the Diamond Jubilee weekend. A specially commissioned staircase will link the riverside Queen's Walk to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the hugely popular urban beach is also making a return.

Outdoor installations
A number of large scale art installations will greet visitors as they make their way into the Southbank Centre, and one of the most eye catching of these will be the luminous cityscape created from plastic waste packaging. The project is a result of a collaboration between artist Gayle Chong Kwan and young people from Colombia, and draws its inspiration from the Colombian town of Moravia, a community living on top of a rubbish mountain where recycling has taken on an important cultural significance. The art installation uses both sound and light to create an immersive and interactive experience.

Festival highlights
Hundreds of artists have contributed to the Festival of the World, which features a programme packed full of special events to celebrate arts and culture from across the globe. Highlights include Poetry Parnassus curated by Simon Armitage, the largest poetry festival to be staged in the UK. There's also the Africa Utopia strand led by Senegalese singer and human rights activist Baaba Maal, and a four day Sounds Venezuela residency marking the return of the hugely popular Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, which was born out of the revolutionary Venezuelan social initiative, El Sistema.

Music and more
Regardless of whether you're into art, poetry, music or dance, there's plenty to pique your interest at the Festival of the World summer event. There's choral music and more as part of a four day festival hosted by Bryn Terfel which celebrates the music and culture of Wales, a special collaboration between the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, as well as a series of artist led events at the Hayward Gallery under the Wide Open School banner, with contributions from Mark Wallinger, Tracey Emin and Bob and Roberta Smith.

London 2012 Festival
Many of the Southbank Centre events taking place before and during the Festival of the World are also part of the city-wide London 2012 Festival, which is presenting a series of cultural events to coincide with the Olympics. For more information on other events taking place, click on the link below.

London 2012 Festival

The Festival of the World at Southbank Centre takes place from 1st June - 9th September 2012. Ticket prices vary. For further information on individual events, click on the link below.

Southbank Centre Official Site

Image: Everything is beautiful when you don’t look down, created by Robots. Photo by Linda Nylind.

Queens Diamond Jubilee London

World Shakespeare Festival London

Regents Park Open Air Theatre

Cirque du Soleil London

Exhibition Road Festival

Carnval del Pueblo 2012

Olympic Outdoor Screenings

Olympic Festival at Hyde Park

Bauhaus Exhibition London

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