Inside Out, Westminster City Council’s summer outdoor arts festival is back for 2023. The festival brings paintings, dance performances and workshops like the Cartoon Museum’s Wallace and Gromit themed clay modelling class to peoples’ doorsteps. Events will start on 1 August with free, fun and interactive activities taking place across the borough over the entire month.
Despite having some of the world’s greatest museums, galleries, and artistic institutions, almost a quarter of residents in Westminster said they had not visited a cultural attraction in the last twelve months*. Inside Out brings art to outdoor spaces and communities across the whole city including Paddington, St James’s, Church Street, Fitzrovia, and Maida Hill.
Westminster City Council first launched its award-winning** Inside Out programme in 2021 to draw residents and visitors back to the West End following the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer, the festival welcomes art, performances and workshops from the National Gallery, English National Opera, Union Dance, Westminster Abbey and the Cartoon Museum, among many others, to the streets and open spaces of the city, for all to enjoy.
As part of the festival, the National Gallery will open Summer on the Square, showcasing artists’ work throughout the month. Visitors and their families will be able to take part in a number of free activities and workshops in Trafalgar Square, all inspired by the Gallery’s collection and exhibitions. Events part of Summer on the Square will feature several artists across August, inviting families and children to create art in interactive galleries, learn how to draw and create costumes.
Throughout August, visitors can attend a range of cultural events including walking tours to discover secrets of the city, including the power women have held in Westminster with History Speaks; dance performances within the iconic fountains of Somerset House courtyard hosted by Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and an afternoon of themed discussions about climate change at the outdoor Gideon Mendel’s Fire / Flood exhibition in Soho Photography Quarter, by The Photographer’s Gallery.
Other highlights from Inside Out festival include:
- Discover Marble Arch, a walking tour which brings the story of Marble Arch to life with a series of character-led walks and talks featuring John Nash
- Hidden St James’s in Church Piccadilly’s Garden will allow passers-by to access an audio-installation through their phones, which distils the hidden history of the local area into short stories
- The Cartoon Museum will bring a Wallace and Gromit themed clay modelling class for family audiences to make their own animation characters
- Union Dance will bring a celebratory music and dance event with performances giving a voice to a collective of young, global majority Westminster musicians and dancers
- Westminster Abbey will host a series of outdoor storytelling events in an story tent for family audiences to uncover stories of London during this historic coronation year
- Wonderful Westminster tours hosted by the City of Westminster Guide Lecturers’ Association. Expert guides will show residents, workers and visitors the amazing histories across the borough
- The Church Street Mask Project by Dende Collective: A mask making activity for residents of the Church Street Ward culminating in an outdoor walkabout performance
- Operetta walking tours led by the English National Opera, taking visitors through a musical journey with fully costumed Gilbert and Sullivan characters.
Cllr Tim Roca, Cabinet Member for Young People, Learning and Leisure said:
Westminster is a centre of the UK’s culture and arts. We want to open these fantastic organisations and the arts within them to our local people. This year, we are working with well-known bodies like the National Gallery and Westminster Abbey, as well as smaller organisations like the City of Westminster Guides Lectures Association to share the fantastic stories of Westminster that are brought to life by art.
We hope that this year’s Inside Out will encourage people to celebrate what the city has to offer whether it be watching local musicians, learning about the history of Fitzrovia or creating your own clay models of Wallace and Gromit. Inside Out has something for everyone."
Karen Eslea, Head of Learning at the National Gallery, said:
We’re delighted to be presenting our most ambitious programme yet for Summer on the Square, and to have the support of and be part of Inside Out. Our location allows us to benefit from one of the most iconic public spaces in London, and working with Westminster City Council to bring the treasures and expertise inside our Gallery out onto Trafalgar Square is a highlight. At Summer on the Square, we hope to see lots of people both returning to the Gallery, and many more visiting us for the first time.”
Juls Allison, Westminster Musician at Union Dance Trust, said:
Our diverse emerging artists are looking forward to the Inside Out Festival in August, participating in live art and music activities for social and creative occasions. Free and accessible to all through a live summer programme of dance with music. Come along and commemorate this moment – get involved and enjoy!”
Joe Sullivan, Director of The Cartoon Museum, said:
I am delighted that Westminster City Council are supporting the museum to bring fun and exciting arts experiences to Westminster. With an upcoming exhibition telling the story of the iconic Aardman film The Wrong Trousers, we are excited to get arty with local residents at a Wallace & Gromit themed clay modelling workshop for Inside Out. We know the value of the arts to enhancing social wellbeing and hope families will enjoy the wonderful and varied programme of the Inside Out festival together."
Find out more about the events taking place in this year’s Inside Out festival on the council’s website.
Notes to editors:
* According to the Council’s own annual City Survey which asks residents a range of questions about local issues.
** In 2021, Inside Out won a national ‘Hearts for the Arts’ Best Arts Project Award as part of Westminster Reveals (National Campaign for the Arts/Local Government Association).
Published: 6 July 2023