The Bloomsbury Festival 2012

The FREE Bloomsbury Festival 2012 takes place over the weekend of Friday 19th to Sunday 21st October and celebrates the cultural organisations, community groups, creative individuals and institutions of this corner of central London.

Line-up

From dance to drama, poetry to performance, art to architecture and workshops to walks the programming takes place across the whole area.

SOAS World Music Stage: at Russell Square throughout the festival weekend, presenting a line-up of artists from around the world. Confirmed to play the stage this year are Adriano Adewale & Umpatacum (Afro-Brazilian roots), Krar Collective (Ethiopian roots), Joe Driscoll & Seckou Kouyate (USA/ West Africa), Pasco Tom (UK). Further artists to be announced.

Throughout Bloomsbury: From candle-lit folk music at The Perseverance pub to the virtuosic piano playing of Llyr Williams, the extensive music programme through this year's festival also includes Handel's Anthem for the Foundlings in the Foundling Museum – the setting for which it was composed.

Over the weekend performances will be presented from Bloomsbury-based dramatic organisations including 'Stripped', an experimental piece from RADA, and 'Jilted', a new piece imagining Dickens' wife and Miss Havisham meeting to discuss the world famous author (an ex-Bloomsbury resident), at The Foundling Musuem.

Young dancers from The Place will be performing throughout Bloomsbury, from Russell Square to the Wellcome Collection, over the weekend, whilst older compatriots can be seen in action at The Place itself, with performances from the impressive Dance United.

Children

Over the weekend, children and parents of all ages will be spoilt for choice. Discover ancient Egyptian animals at the Petrie Museum or create your own caricature at the Cartoon Museum; head to Russell Square for bug-making (with pipe-cleaners) with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, or tap your toes on Feet Street with The Place and Wellcome Collection. For the green-fingered, there's bulb-planting on Marchmont Street, and a full day of Apple-oriented activities at the Calthorpe Project, while the artistically minded can make flowers for the Store Street Gallery's sculpture garden or head to the British Museum for drawing workshops.

More info

The festival will take over all the major museums, galleries, parks and gardens within Bloomsbury. Entry to the Bloomsbury Festival 2012 is completely free for all.

The heart of the Bloomsbury Festival 2012 is Russell Square, which will play host to a wide range of food, literature and craft markets, as well as the SOAS World Music Stage. The square will also provide a festival home for art installations ranging from the established Wellcome Collection and The Place to up and coming art graduates from Central Saint Martin's.

Beyond Russell Square the festival will unfold across the whole of Bloomsbury, hosting events and giving a wide variety of local buildings reason to throw open their doors for one weekend. All museums taking part in the festival over the weekend will provide free admission.

From the British Museum to RADA, from Cartoon Museum to Senate House – Bloomsbury will welcome Londoners and visitors of all ages to enjoy and celebrate.

For more information, see the The Bloomsbury Festival website.

More information will be here when available.

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