To Do List: 7 Amazing Free things to do in the London 2012 Festival
We came, we saw, we conquered the 139 pages of the London 2012 Festival Brochure! Here are our top picks for how to avoid sport the whole summer long!
So much of the London 2012 Festival is pop-up and hasn’t been announced fully yet, so (shameless self promotion alert) we recommend following us on Twitter so that we can keep you updated as we get info from the festival.
1.SECRETS: Hidden London
29 June – 9 September | Sign up to mailing list or follow on Facebook or Twitter to get more info as it is released
Secret personal tours of London, seeking out the ultimate hidden gems, brought to us by the Mayor of London, whoever that may be? Hidden gems you can discover include: a short new floating opera inspired by Edward Lear’s enchanting poem The Owl and The Pussycat; an interactive sound sculpture built in gneiss stones for Fairlop Waters; and English National Ballet’s beautiful and intoxicating new spin to three of London’s stunning lidos in an exciting blend of live performance and film.
2. Prometheus Awakes at Royal Museums Greenwich, SE10 9EF
Friday 22 June at 10pm | No ticket required | Like their Facebook Page for more updates here
An incredible outdoor spectacle by two of the world’s greatest theatre companies, Graeae and La Fura dels Baus as part of the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. Read more in our article here.
3. Sacrilege by Jeremy Deller at various locations | No locations confirmed as yet | Follow on Twitter to find out more as it is announced
Who said art needs to be stuffy, come and have a bounce on the 35m diameter bouncy castle of Stonehenge by To Do List fave Jeremy Deller!
4. BT River of Music Festival at various stages across the river.
Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 June | No booking yet | Tickets being handled by Ticketmaster – Register here to hear about it first
A weekend of free music from around the world on stages along the River Thames including at Battersea Park (Asia stage); Trafalgar Square (Europe stage); Somerset House (Europe stage); Tower of London (Americas stage); Greenwich Old Royal Naval College (Oceania stage) and London Pleasure Gardens (Africa stage).
5. SHOWTIME & THE BIG BUSK | Mayor of London presents | Register for updates here
They say “Watch out for street artists, music and theatre performances, lantern parades, pyrotechnic shows, film and visual arts, installations and more.” We say, “Yes Please!”
6. Tino Seghal at the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern
24 July – 28 October
Finally something which could be as amazing as Olafur Eliasson’s ‘The Weather Project’ in the Turbine Hall. Tino Sehgal makes live encounters between people happen. Gallery-goers can engage with his characters, who involve visitors through conversation, dance, sound and movement, as well as philosophical and economic debate.
Find out how to work with him here
7. ‘Silo D’ by The World Famous
A dazzling site-specific pyrotechnic show by The World Famous animating the architecture of Silo D.
The World Famous has been specially commissioned by Paradise Gardens Festival and London Pleasure Gardens to create a new site-specific performance – Silo D, a spectacular pyrotechnic display and theatrical performance that will feature and celebrate the concrete brutalist structure of the Silo as its set. The show is inspired by a traumatic event that happened on the site in 1917 when a TNT factory exploded, tragically killing 73 people and filling the sky with burning grain, at once both beautiful and terrifying. The show will fuse music, pyrotechnics, projection and theatre in a large, open air performance.
Sited in the heart of Olympic East London, London Pleasure Gardens is a 20-acre riverside arts and entertainment destination which celebrates the very best of London’s world famous alternative culture.
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like free, cheap & offbeat London, especially: cabaret, art, theatre, pop-ups, eating out, quirky films, museums, day trips, social enterprise & much more.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.