International Busking Day is back Saturday 16 July 2022
Wembley Park – Over 120 performers – including The Shires and Seth Lakeman – 10 stages – 1 day – A big celebration.
More information: wembleypark.com/international-busking-day-wembley-park
Now in its seventh year, International Busking Day will return on Saturday 16 July with big names sharing the stage alongside up-and-coming artists and grassroots acts. The festival is presented by Busk in London who are supported by the Mayor of London, and in 2021 scooped up an award at the prestigious Music Cities Awards, a global competition designed to reward the most outstanding applications of music for social and cultural development in cities all around the world.
With over 120 performers in total, International Busking Day is a great opportunity to support some of the hottest home-grown talents. This year’s lineup includes headliners British country duo The Shires and folk singer-songwriter Seth Lakeman, alongside electric string quartet Stringfever, Malawian busker Gasper Nali and Swedish street magician Charlie Caper. Little Stars Circus School is bringing their entire school plus professional performers to provide a whole day of aerial performance, and Leeds-based indie band The Dunwells will be performing on the Main Stage to get the crowd going before the amazing headliners. All the Wembley Park Live Academy performers will be performing, showcasing the best local talent.
Created by Busk in London in 2015 as a hashtag campaign to help raise the profile of street performance and celebrate talent, it has grown and developed into a musical highlight in London’s most iconic destination for music and live entertainment. With 10 outdoor stages and performance locations in close proximity to Wembley Stadium and the OVO Arena Wembley, International Busking Day will also feature street performers across a variety of disciplines, including music, dance and circus arts. The capital is renowned for its vibrant and diverse busking scene, and this free festival enables communities and musicians to celebrate one of the many things that makes it such an exciting place to be.
More information: wembleypark.com/international-busking-day-wembley-park
Since 2018, when International Busking Day moved to Wembley Park from its original Trafalgar Square location, over 0,000 attendees have been entertained by 166 performers, including previous headliners and special guests such as Nile Rodgers, KT Tunstall, The Noisettes, Newton Faulkner, and Nina Nesbitt.
“Busking will always be the foundation that my career in performing is built upon. International Busking Day is a fantastic celebration of it in an amazing location and just hands down a brilliant day out! Do support buskers – however you can – when you see them out and about.”
KT Tunstall is a Busk in London Ambassador and was the IBD 2019 Headliner.
Fast establishing itself as London’s most exciting new neighbourhood, and only a twelve-minute tube ride into central London, Wembley Park will feature International Busking Day in its exciting roster of events this summer. Through International Busking Day and its annual free cultural programme, Wembley Park is providing opportunities for the community to participate and engage with live experiences across different artforms.
“Wembley has a rich heritage of hosting performances across many artforms, and busking is an incredible platform to launch the legendary acts of the future. Alongside musicians, International Busking Day will feature a range of street performers. Circus acts, dance troupes, graffiti artists, and more will be popping up around Wembley Park, entertaining everyone throughout the day.”
Josh McNorton, Cultural Director, Wembley Park said:
“I’m delighted to see the return of International Busking Day to Wembley Park. London is renowned for its thriving busking scene, and this global celebration provides an incredible platform for new and established artists. Nothing is more thrilling than experiencing a live performance, close-up on London’s streets. With ten stages, and over 100 talented artists from the UK and around the world, International Busking Day will be a highlight of London’s summer of culture.”
Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries said:
”International Busking Day is a celebration of a global art form. Whether it is undiscovered talent performing on the street, or artists who travel the world entertaining audiences of all ages, busking has the ability to surprise, delight and entertain all who see it. We are thrilled to be bringing International Busking Day back to Wembley Park, showcasing emerging artists alongside big names and homegrown talent next to international performers in what is our biggest International Busking Day event to date. This will be a highlight of a fantastic summer of music and entertainment at Wembley Park and one not to be missed.”
Kate Jones, Found in Music, added:
More information: wembleypark.com/international-busking-day-wembley-park
Wembley Park is London’s most exciting new neighbourhood. Already home to The OVO Arena Wembley, Wembley, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre and Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park is building on its international reputation for music and sporting events and becoming a landmark destination with culture, entertainment, and the community at its heart. As a neighbourhood, Wembley Park includes over 4,700 new homes, shops, and places to work, as well as attractive public spaces, with parks and gardens, public squares and wide boulevards for locals and visitors alike to enjoy. When completed, nearly half of the 85-acre site will be open space and private gardens and Wembley Park will be home to the largest single-site of Build to Rent in the UK, with over 6,000 homes, all managed by Quintain Living. The introduction of Wembley Park’s newest stage, the Sound Shell at Wembley Park, and the creation of the new Samovar Space is the latest milestone in the transformation of Wembley Park.
Working with local community groups, the area has been transformed from a car park to a concert venue. The neighbourhood continues to welcome innovative food, retail, and leisure experiences, including Amazon Fresh, The White Horse pub by Fuller’s, Black Sheep Coffee, Bread Ahead, Pasta Remoli, Haute Dolci, Masalchi by Atul Kochhar, Chop-Chop London, Out of Office Coffee, Studio 5ive and MoreYoga.
The presence of four hotels, London Designer Outlet (LDO), which includes over 70 shops and restaurants with premium brands that offer 70 per cent off RRP, and BOXPARK Wembley, which has brought independent street food traders to the area and a dedicated floor to gaming including Pop Golf, Bad Axe and Meatspace VR, make Wembley Park an exceptional destination for culture, entertainment, food, and shopping. Wembley Park’s cultural strategy features a year-long programme of free public events. Recent highlights include Wembley Park Live, a free season of grassroots music running until 25 September 2022; International Busking Day, an annual festival celebrating the art of busking and street performance; Winterfest, Wembley Park’s popular lights festival; Wemba’s Dream, a performance festival co-produced with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which have moved its headquarters to the neighbourhood. An extensive public art programme animates Wembley Park’s open spaces, The most recent being ‘Figures of Change’, an art trail launched on International Women’s Day which revealed eight major public artworks by leading international female artists, curated by Zoë Allen of Artistic Statements and assembled by an all-woman team of 16. Other commissions include JR, Jason Bruges, and Maser. A new purpose-built community centre, The Yellow, provides a weekly programme of free community activities, ranging from youth theatre to Indian classical dance.
More information: wembleypark.com/international-busking-day-wembley-park
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More information: wembleypark.com/international-busking-day-wembley-park