29 September 2021
This weekend’s Re:Claim Street Festival in Southampton was a huge success say organisers, almost doubling the number of Saturday visitors to the city centre. More than 22,000 people witnessed the 15 showstopping events – increasing footfall to the city by nearly 10,000 compared to the previous Saturday. Of these, more than 15,000 were new visitors.
From a games bus to live music, dance performances to street art, the inaugural festival brought a burst of vibrancy to the city centre on Saturday (25th September).
Organised by GO! Southampton, Re:Claim was an ambitious festival that successfully showcased the city’s best sporting and artistic talent, with a series of events that stretched from Carlton Place down to Westquay Esplanade. Events took place in Guildhall Square, Above Bar Street, Bargate and the city’s popular parks: East Park and Palmerston Park.
Highlights included The Luminarium by Architects of Air, where visitors were treated to an immersive experience, using natural light for subtle and saturated hues for a unique sensory experience that has astounded audiences across the globe. The Luminarium was in East park for both the Saturday and Sunday, and tickets were sold out for both days.
The festival was rounded off in style with a tremendous Finale Takeover by Southampton’s biggest UK Garage act FooR & Tyrone on The Esplanade, Westquay with a supporting cast of DJs.
Gavin Foord of FooR said: “We were so blown away by the turnout to see us perform on Saturday, we walked around the event in the day and was great to witness first-hand how much talent there is in the city.”
Tyrone added: “This has inspired us so much, we are going to work hard to make sure even more events like this happen in Southampton & we can help build the Southampton music scene even more.”
Robin Creative Media captured the packed schedule of events and all the visual highlights with a ten person film & photography crew.
Robin Waldman from Robin Creative Media said: “We were delighted to support GO! Southampton at Re:Claim and capturing all the nonstop action. It was fantastic to be involved in yet another project that is so important to the city’s diversity – and cultural riches were on full show for its young community to be part of. We also involved local media students from Solent University and Richard Taunton Sixth Form College to give them valuable experience”
GO! Southampton, the Business Improvement District for the city centre, worked together with local cultural partners including Skate Southampton, Solent Showcase Gallery, SoCo Music Project, Hip Hop Heritage, ZoieLogic Dance Theatre, Westquay and more.
The festival’s vibrant mix of creative activity is certain to underline Southampton’s bid to be named UK City of Culture 2025. If successful at the next ballot, GO! Southampton plan to make the festival a permanent fixture in the city’s calendar and it is hoped that the festival will become an annual event to rival Portsmouth’s Victorious Festival.
Giles Semper, Executive Director at GO! Southampton said: “We believe that Saturday saw us put our best foot forward for the city’s UK City of Culture bid. The festival was designed both to animate all sections of the city centre but also put a spotlight on the rich cultural diversity on offer in Southampton. It was particularly pleasing to see so many young people in the audience, trying out things like skateboarding, cage football, BMX and street art. We want to evolve this event over the years and are particularly keen to involve young people in the planning and delivery.”
Gary Bennetton from Our Big Day Out Stage, said: “Fantastic to see various parts of Southampton city centre come alive with a brilliantly diverse range of cultural activities. I sincerely hope Re:Claim returns bigger and better next year and as a result establishes itself as an annual event on the Southampton calendar”.
More information and a full line-up and schedule for Re:Claim can be found at: www.reclaimsouthampton.co.uk
