Latest news with #GDIF
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The full summer programme for Greenwich with concerts, carnivals and food fairs
A summer of free entertainment is coming to south-east London. The Royal Borough of Greenwich has announced the return of its annual Royal Greenwich Festivals, promising a packed season of music, theatre, food, arts and culture across more than 25 events—all free to attend. Running from June 7 to September 14, the festival series will bring a vibrant mix of performances, exhibitions and workshops to neighbourhoods throughout the borough, featuring talent from both local and international artists. A spokesman for the Royal Borough of Greenwich said: "From the beloved Plumstead Make Merry, celebrating its 50th anniversary, to show-stopping spectacles at the 30th Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, we're working with more organisations than ever before to bring you the biggest and best Royal Greenwich Festivals yet. "All Royal Greenwich Festivals events are free. "Just come along, relax and enjoy world-class arts and culture on your doorstep." The season kicks off on June 7 with the 50th edition of Plumstead Make Merry, taking place from 12pm to 6pm on Plumstead Common. Visitors can expect live music, dance and drumming performances, community stalls, food, and craft activities. On June 29, Maryon Park in Charlton will host Summer in the Park, a community event featuring folk music, street arts, a food market and creative workshops. In July, the festival continues with events in Thamesmead, Eltham, Abbey Wood and Kidbrooke. Highlights include the African Masquerade and Nigerian Cultural Festival at Kidbrooke Carnival on July 12, featuring mask-making, a fashion show, Afrobeat dancing, food and market stalls. Eltham's PARKSfest on July 6 and Abbey Wood's PARKSfest on July 13 will also feature live performances and workshops from LGBTQIA+ artists, as well as family-friendly collage activities. From July 14 to August 10, The Bold Melon Collective will present Queer Migrations, an exhibition exploring LGBTQIA+ experiences, at Firepit Arts Gallery in Greenwich. Food lovers can look forward to the Greenwich Food Festival on July 26 at Glyndon Community Centre and Green in Plumstead, which will include cooking competitions, food tastings, arts workshops and health and wellbeing advice. Throughout August, Arc & You will host a series of Nigerian Cultural Finesse events across Kidbrooke, Middle Park, Abbey Wood and Shooters Hill. Each event will feature cultural displays, dance, theatre and the screening of a new documentary exploring Nigerian and British identity. The Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) returns with a full schedule of outdoor arts, beginning with a high-energy rooftop parkour performance in Woolwich on August 22. Beresford Square will be transformed by French company Cie Lézards Bleus as eight performers take to the rooftops in a gravity-defying display. On August 23 and 24, Greenwich Park will host the popular Greenwich Fair, offering street theatre, circus acts, dance and family entertainment. GDIF will close with two days of water-based theatre at Birchmere Lake in Thamesmead on September 5 and 6, blending circus, dance and live music. The season concludes with the Woolwich Carnival on September 13. The event will feature a colourful parade through the town centre, with music, dance, food stalls and a Nigerian cultural showcase. On September 14, Southwood Park in New Eltham will host the final event of the season—a cabaret musical performance by Reach Theatre Company and a specially commissioned artist showcase. The Royal Greenwich Festivals are open to everyone and no tickets are required. Organisers encourage visitors to capture the fun on social media using #RGF2025 and tagging @royal_greenwich.
Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
London's most spectacular free festival has just announced its 2025 line-up
Whether you consider yourself a theatre fan or not, Greenwich + Docklands International Festival is always a highlight of the annual London calendar, bringing together spectacular, essentially unclassifiable outdoor entertainment to the open spaces of Thames-side London. In recent years shows have included a recreation of the Northern Lights, a bevy of glowing swans, and a performance on a melting artificial iceberg. Now it's back for 2025, and the first tranche of announcements for this year's festival are upon on. First things first: we have dates! The festival will run in its traditional late summer slot, this year August 22 to September 6. There's basically too much stuff to list in full, but I'll pick out a few highlights and you can catch up with the full bill here. You can always rely on GDIF for a spectacular opener, and this year it comes from hench French parkour troupe Lézards Bleus, who will get things underway with Above and Beyond (Aug 22, pictured top), a dazzling opener in which eight performers will astound gathered crowds as they leap over the roofs of central Woolwich. Great news for families: the beloved Greenwich Fair (Aug 23 and 24) will return to central Greenwich after skipping last year. It brings family friendly games and street performance to the heart of the borough; there's stuff on all day with highlights within the programme including all-female Belgian circus company Cie Des Chaussons Rouges's high wire show Epiphytes in Greenwich Park. Down on Greenwich Peninsula there will be another sub festival entitled Turning Worlds (Aug 30 and 31) that will include four collaborations between the world of technology, engineering and performance, including the delightfully named Robopole, a human/robot acrobatic act from German company ULIK. Perhaps the most spectacular show of the rest of the bunch is Dutch company Panama Pictures's performance The Weight of the Water (Sep 5 and 6), a physical theatre piece on the subject of climate change that will take place of a seesawing platform in the middle of Birchmere Lake in Thamesmead. Loads of other stuff has also been announced and more will be announced in the future. As everything at GDIF is free and none of it is bookable there's not a whole lot you need to do for now other than pay attention to further announcements and remember the dates.
