FESTIVAL 14 RETURNS WITH STAR-STUDDED LINE-UP
FREE fest welcomes acts including Soul II Soul, Craig Charles and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra
Festival 14 will return to Canary Wharf this year, as Soul II Soul, Craig Charles, Norman Jay MBE and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra headline the music stage in July.
Craig Charles will be coming to the Wharf fresh from Glastonbury Festival, where he comandeers the Shagri-La stage for six hours on the Friday, performing his incredible funk and soul sets alongside a host of special guests. If you haven't witnessed the BBC Radio 6 man's live sets yet, be prepared for an EPIC party.
Another man who knows his way around a funk set is Norman Jay, who's been a stalwart of the DJ scene since the late 70s and delivers sets full of soulful tunes, funk dance floor fillers and plenty more.
And before it's time to get back to life (back to reality), you'll want to check out multiple Grammy nominees, Soul II Soul headlining Friday night's festivities.
While the music lineup alone is worth a trip to E14, there's plenty more to tempt you eastwards. Brand new for this year is 'The Monty Tent' on Montgomery Square (between Jubilee Place and Wood Wharf) where a comedy stage boasts performances from Shappi Khorsandi, Lou Sanders, Paul Chowdhry, Desiree Burch and Adandoman.
Over at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden, families can take part in children's art workshops hosted buy A Line Art, before watching performances by The Space. And kids can burn off even more energy at a family rave by legends, Big Fish Little Fish.
Jubilee Place will transform into an open-air theatre for This Is My Theatre's fun take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and creative collective, SXWKS take centre stage on Saturday 29th July, amplifying black voices with a line-up that includes Belinda Zhawi, poet Lanaire Aderemi and musical act, Brother Portrait.
And there's a chance to take a step back and unwind at Fandangoe Discoteca, a colourful pod hosting a series of talks and workshops curated by The Loss Project. It'll encourage and support festival goers who want to deal with grief or anxiety, covering everything from work stress to relationship breakups in a safe and welcoming environment.
As ever, the Wharf will be packed full of top notch food outlets, from street food trucks to restaurants and cafes, including the newly opened Blacklock chophouse and Pergola on the Wharf, many of which will be running special offers over the festival period. Oh, and if you fancy taking to the water, we can heartily recommend an open water swim or a trip on a Go Boat. Give those a whirl before chowing down on burgers and cocktails, though...
The Festival is mostly FREE, although a small number of events are ticketed.
Click here to view the full programme for Festival 14
