A music and arts festival in Islington which began with a series of performances during lockdown takes flight this July in venues across the borough.
The Islington Festival now includes opera, chamber concerts, walking tours, art exhibitions and yoga – and runs from July 5 – 20.
The closing concert will feature a performance of a string quartet by little known female Czech composer Vitě Zslava Kaprálová.
Artistic director of the festival Joana Ly says: “When we started it wasn’t really a festival – it was concerts in people’s back gardens.”
This year’s programme includes an evening of Czech music, an opera gala Viva Verdi, and a coffee morning with Haydn.
Ly, who is a violinist with the English National Ballet Philharmonic tried to make it as broad as possible and to make it as open and accessible to different art forms.
“It would have been easy to say this is going to be a chamber music festival – but we wanted to include other kinds of events.”
The Islington Festival has live sketching during concerts and has also teamed up with the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration to create a musical walking tour.
Dance, yoga and art exhibitions are also part of the programme, at venues including the Islington Museum, the Little Angel Theatre and The Green in Clerkenwell pub.
Joanna Ly says: “It’s really quite a varied programme. It’s a nice thing to organise because it has allowed us to get involved with local businesses and local venues. It is a great way of connecting with the place you live.”
You can buy tickets for the Islington Festival and find out more information here:
https://www.islingtonfestival.com/programme2024.html
For a chance to win two free tickets for an event of your choice go to
