Summer Festival at Southbank Centre

Featuring a luminous plastic cityscape, African music, poetry extravaganzas and much more, the summer festival at Southbank Centre promises to be a haven for culture loving Londoners and visitors to the city during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Starting just in time for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend and finishing on the final day of the Paralympics, the festival includes live music, art, dance, debate and more throughout the 21 acre site.

Festival of the World
The second summer festival at Southbank Centre takes its inspiration from the London 2012 Olympic Games and the cultural legacy of the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin. The Festival of the World programme follows the hugely popular celebrations for the anniversary of the Festival of Britain, which took over the South Bank during the summer of 2011.

Olympic inspiration
Celebrating the best in artistic expression from around the world, the 2012 summer festival at Southbank Centre takes its lead from visionary educationalist Pierre de Coubertin, who believed that art has the potential to raise the aspirations of young people in much the same way as sport. Many of the events taking place as part of the Festival of the World tie in to the official city-wide London 2012 Festival, which provides the cultural arm of the Olympic Games.

London 2012 Festival

Outdoor installations
One of the visual highlights of the summer festival at Southbank Centre will be the large scale art installations spilling out of the venue and onto the South Bank. One installation that encourages active participation is the luminous plastic cityscape modelled on the Colombian town of Moravia, a community built upon a rubbish mountain where innovative use of recycled materials is a vital part of the local culture. Enter the sound and light installation and explore the earth-bag building, which is filled with compacted soil and reclaimed materials.

Festivals within festivals
The long summer festival also features a number of other festivals, strands and series, including the Udderbelly comedy, cabaret and music festival and the Unlimited programme, which includes 29 major commissions that celebrate the work of disabled and deaf artists. There's also Poetry Parnassus, the largest poetry festival in the UK to date, curated by Simon Armitage.

Summer of music
Other highlights of the Festival of the World include the welcome return of Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra as part of the Sounds Venezuela residency. Meanwhile, there's also a special collaboration between the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, who will be performing Tang Jiang Ping's Sacred Fire 2008 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

Wide Open School
Art lovers can go back to school over the summer and immerse themselves in a wide range of subject and disciplines at the Wide Open School, which is transforming the Hayward Gallery into a centre for learning featuring contributions from over 100 artists from around the world. Artists taking part include Mark Wallinger, Anthony Caro, Bob and Roberta Smith, Shimabuku and Tracey Emin.

Browse the South Bank
In addition to all the art workshops, concerts and mini festivals, the Festival of the World is also transforming the riverside into a summer paradise. Head to an urban beach with a twist, explore the Queen Elizabeth Hall roof garden created in collaboration with the Eden Project, browse the weekly food markets or simply catch a few rays in the newly refurbished Jubilee Gardens, which are being reopened just in time for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend.

The summer festival at Southbank Centre takes place from 1st June - 9th September 2012. Ticket prices vary. Click back soon for further information on individual events.

Festival of the World at Southbank Centre

Queens Diamond Jubilee London

Cultural Olympiad London Festival

World Shakespeare Festival London

Twelfth Night Tickets

Bauhaus Exhibition London

Damien Hirst at Tate Modern

The Tempest at Roundhouse

Comedy of Errors at Roundhouse

King Lear at Almeida Theatre

Shakespeare Exhibition at British Museum

Einstein on the Beach at Barbican

Cymbeline at Barbican

Regents Park Open Air Theatre

David Hockney Exhibition London

Cirque du Soleil London

Exhibition Road Festival

Carnval del Pueblo 2012

Olympic Outdoor Screenings

Olympic Festival at Victoria Park

London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony

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