Press release: Waterloo Festival on now

 

Waterloo Festival, an online extravaganza of art, music, environment and heritage and a celebration of the diverse communities of Waterloo and the South Bank, is now fully underway and running throughout June 2020.

 
 
 

Festival Director Euchar Gravina said: “I’d encourage everyone to take a digital wander through Waterloo Festival. You’ll find articles on curious aspects of Waterloo’s history, you’ll meet the artists, performers and community leaders who are making Waterloo the fascinating place it is today, and you’ll have your spirits lifted by all the local partners who’ve come onboard to bring us fresh and inspiring things to look at, listen to and think about.”

 
 
 
 
 

Enjoy this year’s festival from home!

 

Drawing of the garden at St John’s Waterloo by David Bassadone

 

 

 

Featuring La La Land by Peter Avery as it appeared in Nothing Endures But Change:

 

An outdoors sculpture exhibition curated by Susan Haire, Waterloo Festival 2018

 
 
 

Highlights include:

 
 
 

  • A short film by World Land Trust and Orchestra for the Earth made specially for the Festival. Think Mozart meets Borneo

  • The history of Coin Street Community Co-op and how the South Bank has changed over the last 30 years

  • Former Fairtrade boss Harriet Lamb talking sustainable energy, car-free zones, carbon zero schools and getting greener sooner

  • Interviews with members of the St John’s Waterloo Ugandan congregation on campaigning for Ugandan human rights and standing up for African women and men during the HIV epidemic

  • LGBTQIA+ art and artists shaking up the way we look at art and tackling intersectionality

  • Lambeth gallery Hart Club promoting artists with neurodiversity and brain injury – and designing the Waterloo Festival website

  • World Press Freedom discussions with leading figures including Global Head of Reuters Alessandra Galloni and Rebecca Vincent of Reporters Without Borders

  • Historical curiosities from Matt Brown of The Londonist including What did they do with the old Waterloo Bridge and the clown in the goose-pulled chariot

  • Waterloo stories including Persepolis by Miki Lentin about a meeting between a volunteer and a refugee at a refugee centre with the backdrop of ‘End Game’ playing at the Old Vic

  • Finding out about Jewish refugee Hans Feibusch whose murals adorn St John’s Waterloo and who turns out to have been the most prolific church mural painter possibly in the whole history of the Church of England

 
 

Coming soon:

 
 
 

A premiere of remotely recorded Waterloo voices singing the two notes that make up a 1960s minimalist composition by American La Monte Young, recreated for Waterloo Festival by performance artist Rita Says and the Jerico Orchestra

 
 
 

From the lead sponsor:

 
 
 

Louise Ioannou of lead sponsor HB Reavis said: “The Waterloo Festival plays a very special role in supporting and celebrating this fantastic part of London. That’s why, as part of our work to help make Waterloo an even better place to live, work and visit, we are proud to be its champion for the third year. The festival now seems more important than ever in giving people reason to be hopeful and to celebrate.”

 

 

 

From the Chair:

 
 
 

Chair of Waterloo Festival and vicar of St John’s, Canon Giles Goddard, said: “Back in 1951, our home – St John’s Waterloo – was rebuilt as The Church of The Festival of Britain. That festival was intended as a ‘tonic for the nation’. This year’s Waterloo Festival is another extraordinary achievement: a community coming together to enrich each other’s lives and prove that once again our neighbourhood is a place of resilience, hope and renewal.”

 
 
 

For updates, follow us on:

 

Twitter @waterloofestiv

 

Facebook @thewaterloofestival

 

Instagram @waterloofestiv

 

#TogetherWaterloo