Royal Festival Hall commission Bromley poet to write and perform poem to mark 70th anniversary

Bromley based poet Theresa Lola has been commissioned to write and perform a poem to mark the 70th anniversary of the Royal Festival Hall.

The venue opened in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain – a post-war cultural moment that provided a ‘tonic for the nation’.

The poem by the 2019 to 2020 Young Peoples’ Laureate for London was filmed and released worldwide on May 3.

Elaine Bedell, chief executive of the Southbank Centre, said: “We’re so pleased to be throwing open our doors again and we hope that our Summer Reunion programme will give people the space and opportunity to reconnect and reunite as the Southbank Centre has so often offered in the past.

“It’s poignant that we’re working towards reopening the Royal Festival Hall.”

Pic: Theresa Lola by Florence Creffield