
The Rio Olympics open on Friday 5 August and over that opening weekend Night of Festivals London will be wowing crowds on London’s South Bank with exciting, spectacular and colourful street arts, live music, visual arts, storytelling and moving image, much with a Brazilian and Latin American theme.
The event will take place on the More London site close to City Hall and Tower Bridge, incorporating “The Scoop” amphitheatre. Activity will commence at 2pm on Saturday 6 August and run through to 8pm that evening with an exceptional range of carnival artists, samba and Brazilian music and dance. At 8.30pm the Saturday entertainment will culminate with a special Night Time Lit Carnival, comprising performers on stilts with inflatable, colour changing costumes who will parade from the Design Museum site (Shad Thames) around City Hall and along the river-front to HMS Belfast, coming back to deliver a special finale performance on Potter’s Field at 9.30pm!
On Sunday 7 August the activity will run all day from 11am to 6pm, with regular carnival processions presenting different and extraordinary costumed sections appearing every 45 minutes. Classic Brazilian samba music and dance will bring that Rio vibrancy and energy to the Riverside, and families will also be able to enjoy high quality and atmospheric world storytelling in the bespoke Night of Festivals yurt.
Around the Festival site you will also encounter intriguing visual arts installations created by artists from Bulgaria, Germany and Romania. Night of Festivals celebrates the values of freedom and democracy through artistic innovation. Be there!