The City of London Festival was an annual arts festival that took place in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival was strongly geared towards

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

, but also offered a programme that included

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, world music,

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

film screening A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle. To show the film to best advantage, special screenings may take place in plush, low seat-cou ...

lectures A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical inform ...

and guided tours. Performances were usually held within local venues including some of London's ornate churches,

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

and Livery Company Halls. In 2016 the festival announced it was closing, stating: "However over the years the funding landscape has become ever more competitive and despite achieving support from a range of valued sponsors and supporters it has become increasingly difficult to attract the level of funding necessary to stage the annual festival." Many events were free with the aim being to make the arts accessible to a larger proportion of the City's population. These were often held outdoors in the City's streets, squares and gardens. These venues included the Guildhall Yard,

Liverpool Street Station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

, St Paul's Cathedral steps and Finsbury Circus Gardens. Another part of the programme of the Festival was educational; primary and secondary schools from around the City were involved in a variety of culturally enriching projects which were then showcased within the main Festival programme. The

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

provided the main support for the festival and as a result of its close ties to major businesses within the Square Mile many companies became involved in sponsoring and supporting the festival since its inception in 1962. Some Festivals looked at London's links with important international trading centres. 2005 saw a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

theme, 2006 highlighted

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese culture and 2007 showed the City's connections to France's trading centres, whilst also exploring the 200th Anniversary of the parliamentary Abolition of the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in the United Kingdom. In 1968 the long-established

Carl Flesch Violin Competition The Carl Flesch International Violin Competition (also known as the International Competition for Violinists "Carl Flesch" and the City of London International Competition for Violin and Viola (Carl Flesch Medal)) was an international music competi ...

was brought under the aegis of the City of London Festival to create the

City of London International Violin Competition The Carl Flesch International Violin Competition (also known as the International Competition for Violinists "Carl Flesch" and the City of London International Competition for Violin and Viola (Carl Flesch Medal)) was an international music competi ...

. In 1992, the Festival withdrew its support for the competition, which has not been held since. In 2004 a free winter concert series was established which ran annually with performances from mid-January until late March, its last concerts being held in 2016. In 2009 (with

Sing London Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), 2010, 2011 and 2012 City of London Festival produced and presented the street pianos project ''

Play Me, I'm Yours A street piano is a piano placed in a public area that encourages passersby to stop and play. The Street Piano in Sheffield In Sheffield, ''The Street Piano'' was a piano on the pavement on Sharrow Vale Road in 2003. It was originally left outs ...

''. 125 pianos were placed across London streets, squares and gardens, reaching audiences estimated at 3.5 million.

References

External links

City of London Festival
{{Authority control Festivals in the City of London Entertainment in London Arts festivals in England