Sunday, 20 July 2025

The Southbank Centre newsletter

 Here is the latest newsletter for my followers to peruse:

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Let's get it on


In the mood for a dance? Our summer series, Dance Your Way Home, kicks off this week with free parties, performances and gigs for all kinds of movers – come along for a good time.

Plus, check out the latest drops for EFG London Jazz Festival and a long-awaited classical return.


They're back

Gustavo Dudamel conducting

Gustavo Dudamel & Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra

THU 28 AUG

Fresh from performing with Coldplay, the ferociously skilled orchestra returns to the Royal Festival Hall after almost a decade, celebrating their 50th birthday concert.


EFG London Jazz Festival

Left image of a person with blonde hair sitting with their harp, left image of a person sitting with a guitar

Take Five: Marysia Osu & Rory A. Green

SAT 15 NOV

Right: A man holding a saxophone in a field. Left: A woman playing a xylophone

Take Five: Matt Carmichael & Gloria Yehilevsky

SUN 16 NOV

Three mean wearing red shirts, standing against a pale marble wall

Marco Mezquida: Tornado

SUN 16 NOV


Happening this week

A an upside down person with hair hanging off their head gestures with their hands in front of a purple hued background.

Iris Colomb: Opening Event

WED 23 JUL

Be the first to see the National Poetry Library’s new exhibition and experience a live performance from the poet and artist behind it.

Five performers wearing grey and white tracksuits and black shoes moving with hunched over bodies

Jeremy Nedd: from rock to rock

WED 23 & THU 24 JUL

The Milly Rock, a viral dance inspired by the rapper 2 Milly, takes centre stage in the acclaimed choreographer’s London debut.

A person wearing black and large gold hoop earrings and a nose ring. They have deep brown eyes

Poets on the Dance Floor

THU 24 JUL

Spotlighting music and movement, poets Iris Colomb, Rob Gallagher, Oluwaseun Olayiwola and Belinda Zhawi chronicle the dance floors that have inspired them.

Left; Caleb Femi wears a black tshirt with a cream background, right; Jordan Stephens against a grey wall wearing a grey jacket and black baseball cap

Caleb Femi & Jordan Stephens: On the Dance Floor

FRI 25 JUL

Friends and bestselling authors Caleb Femi and Jordan Stephens take to the stage to discuss the importance of parties and the dance floors they’ve known.

This event is Speech-to-Text transcribed (STT).

Black and white portrait of a persons side profile, they are wearing a hat, sunglasses and a tank top

Fuse ODG – Spirit of New Africa

SAT 26 JUL

The Afrobeats artist reclaims the African narrative with bangers and thought-provoking songs designed to spark dialogues that have never taken place.

women in park looking into camera

Folk Dance: For and of the People

SUN 27 JUL

Zakia Sewell chairs a panel that includes Lally MacBeth and Charlotte McLean, as they discuss what folk dance means to them.



 Free music and DJ sets


Two women looking at each other one with bright and big ginger curly hair and the other with hair coils in.

futuretense: Choose Your Beat

THU 24 JUL

A Birdseye view of people having fun with pride flags on their clothes outside on the roof terrace.

Trans Pride Riverside Party with Transvision

FRI 25 JUL

A young woman sings to the crowd in front of purple lights

JAZZ RE:FEST 2025

SAT 26 JUL

A man with a grey and white beard, wearing a green shirt looking to camera

Dub the Dance Floor with King Original Sound System

SUN 27 JUL


More time for art

Two people in a large exhibition space looking at a collection of records displayed on one wall

Yoshitomo Nara

UNTIL SUN 31 AUG

Take in a captivating, creative exhibition of Yoshitomo Nara's works, with extended hours now added.


Explore free art

Artwork with three images overlaying each other in different dance shape and different colour

Dance Your Way Home: Public Art

UNTIL MON 25 AUG

Discover incredible free art across our site, each connected to the theme of our summer season, Dance Your Way Home.

Large pink box sculpture with glass panels and words 'Fandangoe Discoteca' on the side

Listen along

Take an audio tour of the artworks with the Bloomberg Connects app.


Build them up

Group of children watching someone dance and move on their hands

She Built That: LEGO Dance Workshops

TUE 5 & WED 6 AUG

Kids are invited to learn dances and show off their best moves at free workshops this summer, with the chance to feature in a kids-only music video.


From the Magazine

The poet Raymond Antrobus, a man in his late 30s of British and Jamaican heritage with short hair, sits smiling on a wooden chair in a roughly kept garden

Raymond Antrobus: ‘I have zero interest in framing myself as some kind of victim’

Enjoy an in-depth interview with poet Raymond Antrobus who talks to Precious Adesina about his life as ‘an investigator of missing sound’ and his memoir The Quiet Ear, which he joins us to launch next month.


Gif of Yinka IIori products

Brighten your space

Add joy to your day with Yinka Ilori’s bold, colourful designs. These vibrant homeware pieces and gifts are made to uplift and inspire.

The LEGO Group is an official partner of the Southbank Centre’s families programme.

Image credits:

Installation view of Yoshitomo Nara. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery. Photo by Mark Blower.

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Southbank Centre is a charity registered in England and Wales No.298909. Registered office: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

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