The burst of June sunshine radiated summer vibes on Underbelly Festival Southbank and the party continues throughout July with an extraordinary festival or circus, comedy, cabaret and family fun.
Circolombia has been sizzling in the Belly Theatre where they continue to blow minds with their visceral acrobatic skills and fiery live Latin-pop soundtrack until 14 July. Australia’s circus juggernaut Circa taking over the Spiegeltent with their astonishing response to the new wave of circus-cabaret, Peepshow (all month).
Theatrical innovators Metta Theatre will also return with the follow-up to their brilliant street dance Jungle Book this time using acrobats in conjunction with their usual genre-defying theatre to create a spectacular underwater world for the whole family in Metta’s Little Mermaid: The Circus Sensation (from 24th July).
Comedy highlights in July include superstar ventrili-comic Nina Conti (1st July), national treasure in waiting Hal Cruttenden in Hal’s Comedy Collective (3rd July), rising star Alex Edelman (3rd July), Festival of Spoken Nerd who’ll be making science funny (4th July), satirist par excellence Andy Zaltzman’s World Cup Special (5th July) and The Bugle (10thJuly), woman of 1000 voices Jess Robinson (5th July), magic man Pete Firman (6th July), voice of the zeitgeist Dane Baptiste & Friends (7th July), comedy-improv-hip-hop Abandoman (11-14 July) and variety legends The Horne Section (11th July).
A rainbow of cabaret, burlesque and drag for Pride month includes Pride in London’s Rising Stars (2nd July), House of Burlesque Revue (6th & 13th July), LoLo Brow (10th July), Bad Luck Cabaret (18th July) a Christopher Green double bill in the form of Ida Barr (19th July) and Tina C (26th July), The Art of Drag (24th July), Underbelly Festival legends Club Briefs (25-28 July), Glittery Clittery: A Consensual Party (27thJuly) and The Virgin Xtravaganzah (31st July).
Family fun comes in every possible form, from belly laughs in Comedy Club 4 Kids (1, 8, 14 July) pirate-themed slapstick circus Arr We There Yet? (1st July), interactive video game comedy in The Dark Room for Kids (7th July), Monski Mouse’s Baby Disco Dancehall (every Sunday in July), time-travelling Magic from Morgan & West (7thJuly), cult comedy game show in which the kids provide the laughs for their parents Funz & Gamez (8 July) and an inspiring and riotously fun gateway into a whole theatrical universe from Shakespearience (15th July).
Add to all of this a fantastic range of street food from around the world, a sumptuous drinks menu and some of London’s coolest outdoor bars (including a site-transformation expansion at the end of the month) and Underbelly Festival Southbank is one of the capital’s truly iconic summer destinations.
Underbelly Festival
6 April – 30 September
Southbank, London, SE1 8XX
www.underbellyfestival.com