Summer on the South Bank

Both the National Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall (RFH) host regular free events (mainly live music) throughout the year but over the next few months there'll be lots more happening. The National Theatre's Watch this Space free festival has been running for a few years now and offers music, dance, circus and more in the square outside the theatre. There's not much detail available yet about this year's festival which starts on 1 July but I'm sure there'll be some interesting events on offer.

This year there is even more reason than usual to spend time around here as the South Bank Centre celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain with a 'festival of British culture and creativity' which includes a number of free performances and activities. I've already been along to a couple of events and hope to get along to several more.

 On Saturday 30th April, we took part in Billy's Big Busk with hundreds of us singing along to a range of songs led by Billy Bragg and many people also joining in on musical instruments. There were lots of guitars and a whole range of other instruments including saxophone, didgeridoo and percussion and it was great fun.

As usual Billy was good at engaging with the audience and he had a number of assistants who held up boards with the chords on to help those playing along. The songs included Billy's own (A13, A New England), old favourites (Daydream Believer) and recent hits (Adele's Rolling in the Deep). A couple getting married at the RFH that day were invited on stage to sing along to Shotgun Wedding! I only managed to take a couple of pictures as I was too busy enjoying myself but there are loads more in the link above.


We were back again last Saturday for some more music as the Magpie's Nest had organised various folk singing and dancing activities. We also spent some time exploring what else is on offer. This includes a food market behind the RFH, a beach and a series of beach huts next to the river and a garden on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. This last was my favourite. They have planted a wildflower meadow which should be wonderful when it is in bloom. There are also lots of raised beds with vegetables, soft fruit and herbs and even a cafe, so you can while a way an hour or so with a beer or coffee. When we visited it was relatively quiet up there compared to the hustle and bustle below but I guess that may change as people discover it.

There is also a Festival Museum which I plan to visit another time. The festival runs until 4 September and details of all the events are available here. This week-end the focus is on singing with a range of choral activities and the following week-end it's classical music.

It looks like it is going to be a great summer on the South Bank.