17 September 2021
The countdown is on to this month’s exciting Re:Claim Street Festival in Southampton with the unveiling of a showstopping schedule of events.
The mostly free-to-attend festival will witness an amazing burst of sporting and arts activity in and around the city centre on Saturday 25th September, truly bringing the streets alive for one momentous day.
Organised by GO! Southampton, the new festival is set to showcase the city’s best sporting and artistic talent, with a programme of activity including live music, dance performances, gaming, street art, skateboarding and street football. Activities and events on the day include:
- Jerk Jam Soundclash – a sound “battle” between two of the city’s best-known Caribbean-influenced sound systems: Maka Foundation and Headsessions.
- SLAMMA4 – a celebration of skateboarding, featuring fun and free skateboarding challenges and lessons. Watch the square come alive with uniquely designed obstacles and plenty of opportunities to take part.
- Street Jam – live street art with The WOM Collective and South Coast Graff with opportunities to get involved or watch permanent installations as they are created.
- SoCo Music Project, Our Big Day Out, Hip Hop Heritage and BBC Music Introducing local artists set to perform on the day include BASH!, Mauvey, Collective States, Georgia Turnbull and Mystic Peach
- FuzzyLogic and Just Us Dance Theatre’s Born to Protest which aims to dismantle presumptions about the black male and female figure based on intimidation, danger and isolation
- Freestyle football with displays by Soccer Aid star Harriett Pavlou, alongside world record holder Ben Nuttall, Reading FC Freestyler Taylor Macdonald, pro freestyler Shannon Ghee and Panna Cage player Anthony Antoniou
- Gaming Hub features a variety of games from the very modern to retro classics – plus there’s £500 of prizes up for grabs.
The stunning Luminarium by Architects of Air will see visitors immersed in an amazing world of light and subtle and saturated hues for a unique sensory experience which has astounded audiences across the globe. The Luminarium offers a dazzling maze of winding paths and soaring domes where Islamic architecture, Archimedean solids and Gothic cathedrals meld into an inspiring monument to the beauty of light and colour in which visitors can happily lose themselves. This is a paid-for event running on the 25th and 26th September, tickets are available to buy from here.
The festival will be rounded off in style with a tremendous Finale Takeover by FooR & Tyrone – Southampton’s biggest UK Garage act just one week after their appearance at the Isle Of Wight Festival. FooR & Tyrone will be performing on The Esplanade, Westquay with a supporting cast of DJs.
Activities will stretch from Carlton Place down to Westquay Esplanade, with events planned to take place in Guildhall Square, Above Bar Street, Bargate and the city’s popular parks: East Park and Palmerston Park.
GO! Southampton, the Business Improvement District for the city centre, is working with local cultural partners including Skate Southampton, Solent Showcase Gallery, SoCo Music Project, Hip Hop Heritage, ZoieLogic Dance Theatre, Westquay and more to stage the festival.
While audiences can expect to watch fantastic live performances, they can also get involved and take part in activities on the day.
GO! Southampton is also working with The Big Issue who have produced a special mini-magazine, that includes a guide and map to the festival. Copies are being delivered to Southampton households and city centre locations this week. The 24-page magazine consists of preview features and interviews with artists and organisers of Re:Claim, Southampton’s UK City of Culture 2025 bid, Skate Southampton, a host of the city’s leading street artists, and much more.
Gavin Foord, of Southampton’s biggest garage act FooR who will be closing the festival, said: “We are proud to be a part of a festival which celebrates music, sports and performing arts in our home town of Southampton. This festival is showcasing the rich cultural talent here in Southampton both to those who already know what this great city has to offer but also to people who can experience something new for the first time. We will be sure to put on a good show for everyone to remember – and we hope that people will keep coming back to Southampton and future Re:Claim Festivals.”
The festival’s vibrant mix of creative activity is certain to underline Southampton’s bid to be named UK City of Culture 2025 and it is hoped that the festival will become an annual event.
Claire Whitaker, Bid Director for Southampton City of Culture 2025, welcomes the festival as an important moment to turn the spotlight on the city’s cultural diversity. “The Re:Claim Street Festival will celebrate the range, breadth and diversity of culture in Southampton and is an important new event in the city’s cultural calendar,” commented Claire.
More information and a full line-up and schedule for Re:Claim can be found at: www.reclaimsouthampton.co.uk