After a major crowdfunding campaign to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Crystal Palace Bowl has announced the launch of the South Facing Festival, which will take place at the open-air South London venue for the first time this summer. Money has been raised to support the development of the stage, known by locals as the 'Rusty Laptop'.
The South Facing Festival will take place at Crystal Palace Bowl from 5-31 August, with twelve headline performances – the first wave of which have just been announced.
The artists confirmed for the festival so far include Dizzee Rascal and the Outlook Orchestra, Supergrass, The Streets, Max Richter and the English National Opera.
Composer Max Richter will be performing at the festival on 28 August – his only UK date for this year. He will perform two works, VOICES and INFRA on solo piano and electronics, joined by the Max Richter Ensemble, as well as violinist Mari Samuelson, saxophonist Grace Davidson and conductor Robert Ziegler. VOICES was written to mark global Human Rights Day and features passages of text from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The English National Opera is staging two performances of Puccini's Tosca on 27 and 29 August.
In its history, the Crystal Palace Bowl has played host to artists such as Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Elton John and Vera Lynn.
Tickets to the South Facing Festival go on sale at 9am on Monday 15 March. Pre-sale is available now.
Top photo: The Garden Party rock concert at the Crystal Palace Bowl in London, UK, 15 May 1971. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
