The Southbank Centre today announces a four-month reopening programme, Summer Reunion – providing opportunities for people to reconnect, reunite and enjoy a colourful, joyful celebration of art, culture and entertainment.
The packed programme features ballet, classical music, contemporary music, literature, poetry and visual art. The reopening of the Southbank Centre and Summer Reunion programme is made possible thanks to the repayable loan from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
On 30 April the popular weekly street food market returns, alongside riverside pop-ups. The Hayward Gallery welcomes visitors back on Wednesday 19 May with free weekend entertainment outside the Royal Festival Hall from Friday 21 – 23 May. The Royal Festival Hall will reopen on Friday 28 May with socially-distanced performances in line with government guidance. The National Poetry Library will also open on 28 May while the popular Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden is also set to open this summer.
Royal Festival Hall turns 70
Marking a pivotal moment for the Royal Festival Hall, the reopening of the venue in May coincides with its 70th anniversary when it was first opened in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain. The post-war cultural moment provided a ‘tonic for the nation’ for millions of people who attended events at the main Festival site on London’s South Bank, and the events held across the UK. The reopening of the iconic Modernist hall this May as the nation navigates its way out of the coronavirus pandemic, draws powerful parallels with its post-war beginnings, and the presentation of the summer season marks an extraordinary moment for audiences reengaging with live culture post lockdown and reconnecting with one another.
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Royal Festival Hall, a specially-commissioned poem about the beloved venue by Theresa Lola is to be filmed and released worldwide on 3 May. Theresa Lola is a British-Nigerian poet based in London and was appointed the 2019/2020 Young People’s Laureate for London.
Elaine Bedell, Chief Executive of the Southbank Centre, said: “We’re so pleased to be throwing open our doors again and we hope that our Summer Reunion programme will give people the space and opportunity to reconnect and reunite as the Southbank Centre has so often offered in the past. It’s poignant that we’re working towards reopening the Royal Festival Hall in May, 70 years after the building was first opened as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations in 1951 when it provided a much-needed ‘tonic for the Nation’.”
