City of London Festival
Encyclopedia
The City of London Festival is an annual arts festival that takes place in the City of London
, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival is strongly geared towards classical music, but also offers a programme that includes jazz, world music, opera, film screenings, lectures and guided tours. Performances are usually held within local venues including some of London's ornate churches, St Paul's Cathedral
and Livery Company
Halls.
Many events are free with the aim being to make the arts accessible to a larger proportion of the City's population. These are often held outdoors in the City's streets, squares and gardens. These venues include the Guildhall Yard
, Liverpool Street Station
and Finsbury Circus Gardens. Another part of the programme of the Festival is educational; primary and secondary schools from around the City are involved in a variety of culturally enriching projects which are then showcased within the main Festival programme.
The City of London Corporation provides the main support for the festival and as a result of its close ties to major businesses within the Square Mile many companies have become involved in sponsoring and supporting the festival since its inception in 1962.
Recent Festivals have looked at London's links with important international trading centres. 2005 saw a Dutch
theme, 2006 highlighted Japanese
culture and 2007 showed the City's connections to France's
trading centres, whilst also exploring the 200th Anniversary of the parliamentary Abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom.
In 2004 a free winter concert series was established which now runs annually with performances from mid-January until late March.
In 2009 along with Sing london the City of London Festival sponsored the Play Me, I'm Yours.
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival is strongly geared towards classical music, but also offers a programme that includes jazz, world music, opera, film screenings, lectures and guided tours. Performances are usually held within local venues including some of London's ornate churches, St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
and Livery Company
Livery Company
The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...
Halls.
Many events are free with the aim being to make the arts accessible to a larger proportion of the City's population. These are often held outdoors in the City's streets, squares and gardens. These venues include the Guildhall Yard
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
, Liverpool Street Station
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
and Finsbury Circus Gardens. Another part of the programme of the Festival is educational; primary and secondary schools from around the City are involved in a variety of culturally enriching projects which are then showcased within the main Festival programme.
The City of London Corporation provides the main support for the festival and as a result of its close ties to major businesses within the Square Mile many companies have become involved in sponsoring and supporting the festival since its inception in 1962.
Recent Festivals have looked at London's links with important international trading centres. 2005 saw a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
theme, 2006 highlighted Japanese
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
culture and 2007 showed the City's connections to France's
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
trading centres, whilst also exploring the 200th Anniversary of the parliamentary Abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom.
In 2004 a free winter concert series was established which now runs annually with performances from mid-January until late March.
In 2009 along with Sing london the City of London Festival sponsored the Play Me, I'm Yours.