When someone mentions ‘Bloomsbury’, it’s unlikely that your mind immediately leaps to belly dancing, Japanese mime, and sitar jazz…
…yet.
Because it’s all coming up in the Bloomsbury Festival, which returns for ten days this October (13th – 22nd). A fixture since 2006, it’s the district’s annual reminder to the rest of London that it’s a really creative neighbourhood, and, as always, the line-up isn’t short of things to see and do.
It all kicks off on Store Street on Friday 13th October, where you’ll be able to browse the stalls at the global street food & flower market; enjoy live performances from busking musicians and local dance groups; and watch pop-up poetry slams around the neighbourhood.
And in the ten days to follow? Here’s a very small sample of what you can expect:
An Evening with an Immigrant, namely the acclaimed Nigerian playwright and poet Inua Ellams MBE, who shares his own personal story of fleeing extremism to drinking wine with the Queen;
A two-hour introduction to Egyptian bellydancing with an instructor who trained in Cairo for three years;
The Bloomsbury Beast Pipe Organ, which will be rallied into rousing action to accompany two classic silent movies;
We Were Here, an exhibition collating the fascinating life stories of eight individuals of African and Caribbean heritage who have lived and worked in the borough;
Rey Camoy
Rey Camoy, a corporeal mime show inspired by the 20th century Japanese artist, haunted by his outcast portrait subjects;
Jazz Orient, a group who draw on diverse musical influences from jazz to Indian and Eastern European folk, led by sitar player Baluji Shrivastav OBE;
No Place Like Home, a free documentary screening sharing the heartbreaking stories of Bloomsbury’s orphanage, The Foundling Hospital;
Entwine, an exhibition of 50 sculptures… made of avocadoes; and
Histoire du Tango, an evening of dance drenched in dazzling audio-visuals, performed by two of the country’s championship tango dancers.
Again, this is only a mere drop in the ocean in terms of what’s in store. All told, there’s over 100 events that you can cram into your calendar, with workshops, talks, walking tours and more…
NOTE: The Bloomsbury Festival takes place from 13th-22nd October 2023 at various venues in the neighbourhood. Tickets are on sale now, and can be booked right HERE.
Looking for more things to do? Here’s what’s on in London this weekend…