Exhibition Road Show

Taking place during the first nine days of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Exhibition Road Festival sees the street's arts, cultural, scientific and academic organisations join together to present games, dance, science, debates, music, writers' commissions and visual art installations. The festival marks the 'kerb-free' refurbishment of Exhibition Road and showcases its institutions while reflecting the legacy of the 1851 Great Exhibition. The themes are 'innovation', 'risk-taking', 'creativity' and 'human endeavour'. Artists commissioned to create new work for the festival include Katie Paterson, who will show the cast of a meteorite, and Graeme Miller, who will make observations on the day-to-day proceedings of the festival. Other events include a music programme with performances by Eliza Carthy, Kammer Klang and others, acrobatics and dance, as well as a nightly ballroom dance and, at weekends, an afternoon tea dance. Daily parades feature marching bands, cyclists and horses. In the early mornings there's spinning, yoga and other forms of exercise on offer. Games tables set up along the road feature board games ranging in date from the eighteenth-century to the present day. 'Road Stories' includes storytelling sessions by Deborah Levy, Ali Smith and other writers who have been invited to compose a short story for the occasion.