Sadiq Khan will this morning formally sign in for a second term as Mayor of London on stage at the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe, as he announces plans for the biggest domestic tourism campaign the capital has ever seen to help London’s economy get back on its feet as COVID restrictions are eased. He will be joined at the Globe by award-winning British actor and director Adrian Lester.
In his speech this morning Sadiq will confirm that a top priority for his second term as Mayor will be ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’, standing up for the Londoners who lost their jobs during the pandemic and helping to skill up Londoners to get back into work.
An immediate priority for the Mayor will be his new ‘Let’s Do London’ campaign launching today, which is being created in partnership with the city’s hospitality, culture, and retail industries. The flagship campaign to encourage Londoners and visitors back into central London will include a programme of one-off special events created in partnership with London’s best-known cultural institutions and tourism attractions. It will kick off later this month with the capital’s famous chefs, foodies and hospitality venues coming together to promote and celebrate London’s world-class food offer.
There will be new exciting public art installations to attract people back into London from this month. David Hockney, one of the UK’s most influential living artists, has redesigned TfL’s iconic roundel ‘Hockney Circus’ in a special artwork as part of a takeover of Piccadilly Circus Station starting today. Turning central London into a huge outdoor art gallery, award winning London designer Yinka Ilori is leading on ‘Asphalt Art’, a series of major new temporary streetscape commissions in central London and the City of London, in partnership with the London Design Festival and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative.
There will also be a transformation of road crossings and street furniture in the West End, with a partnership between Royal Academy artists and the Heart of London Business Alliance Art of London programme. And multi-award-winning artist and designer Es Devlin will plant a living forest at Somerset House for this year’s London Design Biennale.
From Alice in Wonderland at the V&A and Fantastic Beasts at the Natural History to the Royal Opera House ‘Unlocked’ taking over the Covent Garden piazza. ‘London Lates’ over the summer months will see extended opening across museums, galleries and cultural and grassroots music venues.
Shakespeare’s Globe for example will stage ‘Midnight Matinees’ with performances starting at 11.59pm, and an invitation to get back to the big screen will see outdoor film screenings curated by BAFTA and the British Film Institute.
The Autumn will welcome back major creative festivals, such as London Fashion Week, Frieze London, the London Design Festival, and the 65th BFI London Film Festival, before the return of major events and attractions over the winter.
There will be further exciting announcements across the year to showcase London’s world class nightlife, cultural attractions and hospitality businesses as well as the city’s grassroots venues and how creative freelancers, artists and performers will be at the heart of the programme as it continues to develop.
The Mayor has allocated £6M to directly support the new campaign, in addition to industry contributing over £1m in funding and value-in-kind. The campaign will include a major advertising push supported by London & Partners and TfL, alongside new content on the Visit London website outlining all the campaign has to offer to Londoners and visitors to the capital. It will include a new TfL campaign launching next month, involving TV and poster advertising, that will encourage people to rediscover London by public transport.
To ensure London re-opens safely the capital’s venues are doing a huge amount of work to ensure they follow COVID guidance – including new queuing systems, staggered arrival times, and a variety of social distancing measures. The Mayor continues to urge Londoners to show caution and follow the rules when out and about, wearing a face covering in shops and other indoor venues, carrying hand sanitiser, and keeping to social distancing. He continues to urge Londoners to take up the vaccine as soon as they are offered it.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It’s an honour to have been re-elected with a huge mandate as Mayor of the city I love – the greatest city in the world. The work begins anew today to refresh and reignite our city and to kick-start our economy as London continues to reopen. This includes making jobs, jobs, jobs a top priority and banging the drum for London to attract the jobs, tourism and investment our city needs.
“Today I am at the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe to launch ‘Let’s Do London’ – the biggest domestic tourism campaign London has ever seen to champion our businesses, cultural institutions and attractions that have suffered so much during the pandemic. This is about getting the message out to Londoners and people across the country that our capital stands ready to entertain, inspire and enthral once again.
“Our new campaign is bringing together many of the capital’s leading organisations and venues to offer an unparalleled experience for anyone visiting the capital throughout the year. With restrictions on international travel likely to continue this year, Londoners and visitors from the UK have a unique opportunity to experience all the capital has to offer without the queues. In doing so you’ll be providing vital support for our world-leading venues as they start to re-open and need our help more than ever.
“My mission over the next three years is to put the dark days of the pandemic behind us and to deliver a better and brighter future for London – creating a fairer, greener and more prosperous city, where everyone gets the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential. As well as focusing on the urgent task of London’s recovery and investing in jobs and skills, I promise to continue putting everything I have into tackling the long-standing issues that matter most to Londoners, including making our streets safer, building more affordable homes and tackling the twin emergencies of air pollution and climate change.”
British actor and director Adrian Lester CBE, said: “This has been the toughest year in decades for our incredible cultural and creative sectors but I’m certain that London’s theatres, music venues and cultural attractions will be vital to London’s economic recovery from Covid-19 this year.
“It is exciting to see the Mayor and so many of the capital’s venues come together to put on a truly wonderful programme of events and activities that should encourage people back into London in large numbers.
“As creative artists we depend enormously on our fans and the visitors who want to see us perform. I have no doubt that at the heart of London’s recovery this year will be people flocking back to our cultural venues”
