East London arts festival to launch in March

Published Tuesday 22 January 2008 at 14:05 by Lalayn Baluch

East London’s creative life is to be the focus of a new cultural celebration set to run from March 6-11, showcasing performance, music and art in the region.

Devised by the Mayor of London, East 2008 broadens the programming of a smaller festival held in the area last year, with 400 events scheduled to be presented by more than 50 companies and venues. Theatre Royal Stratford East’s transfer of The Harder They Come to the Barbican Centre, revealed last year in The Stage, will help launch the event and will open at the City of London venue on the first night of the festival.

Carnival performers Kinetika will be working with young people from the area to create a percussion act, Dalston music venue Vortex has commissioned artists to tour the area with ten free shows a day, and Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club will stage cabaret performances.

There will also be special weekend events for children at Stratford’s Discover Centre, led by dancers and musicians from Poland, Lithuania and Albania.

Mark Prescott, head of cultural campaigns at the Greater London Authority, said: “Our aim for East, as it develops momentum over the coming years, is to shine a light on this creativity, encourage new relationships, and bring the unique quality of east London to ever-larger audiences around the world.”

The festival has been produced in collaboration with Serious Music, the Barbican Centre, Museum of London, Museum of Docklands, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Whitechapel Gallery, The British Film Institute, Old Truman Brewery and Spitalfields Market. Other organisations such as Alternative Arts, Arcola Theatre and East London Dance will also be involved in the celebration, and organisers hope for it to become an annual event.