Thames Festival plans revealed by organiser

The organisers of The Mayor’s Thames Festival 2012 have released details of the event that is set to takes place on September 8 and 9 – 800,000 people are expected to descend on the banks of the Thames from the London Eye to St Katherine Docks on the closing weekend of the Paralympic Games.

Circolombia will perform acrobatics in front of Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast will host choral performances, One Thousand Pans will bring steel pan groups from across the country together in Jubilee Gardens to break the world record for the largest number of steel pans played at one time, and on the evening of September 9, London’s skyline will be illuminated as a Night Carnival gets underway – over 1,500 dancers, drummers and masqueraders will parade along London’s Victoria Embankment, before Pains Fireworks create a firework display from 10.30pm.

Adrian Evans, festival director, said: “This year is going to be a true spectacular. The festival brings Londoners together to celebrate the things that make the city great and this year we’re proud to be the capital’s celebration of an incredible summer.”

Supported by the Mayor of London and Arts Council England, the festival is delivered by the Thames Festival Trust, a not-for-profit charitable trust.

Other highlights include the world première of a new composition by award-winning singer-songwriter Sam Lee performed by 600 children, a day of live poetry and beat boxing and a performance under Tower Bridge using ships’ horns, created by twice-Turner Prize-nominated artist Richard Wilson RA.