The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival is one of the limited number of great London institutions to have avoided skipping a year – it has a slimmed-down, delayed edition in 2020, and now in 2021 it returns for a big end-of-summer edition.
If you’re unfamiliar, GDIF means big, bold, mostly free outdoor events taking over the streets of Greenwich, the City of London, Canary Wharf, Thamesmead and the Royal Docks.
The full line-up has just been announced and it’s pretty damn spectacular. Most audacious is surely ‘Borealis’, Swiss artist Dan Acher’s recreation of the Northern Lights over Greenwich and Woolwich – we’re not exactly sure how he does this but it involves lasers and stuff and sounds amazing: it’ll run from 8.30pm-10pm in the skies above Greenwich August 7 to September 5, and then Woolwich September 9 to 11.
Other highlights include Thames-side ‘Reflection Gardens’ – a new spot where you can walk and reflect – ‘After the Storm’ – a spectacular closing show for the gardens – from Walk the Plank; a very limited edition site-specific version of Dennis Potter’s classic ‘Blue Remembered Hills’; ‘Black Victorians’, a celebration of marginalised figures from the era; and plenty of returning favourites like the family-friendly anarchy of the Greenwich Fair, and the Cityw-wide dance fest Dancing City, returning for a special two-day-edition.
The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2021 runs August 27-September 11. See the full line-up here
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