Relive some of the incredible performances in the Royal Docks from this year’s Greenwich and Docklands Festival

This summer, the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival staged a large-scale event celebrating the NHS and as a memorial to the people who have died during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reimagined to facilitate social distancing and to ensure the safety of staff, performers and audiences, the festival saw over 150 performances and welcomed over 20,000 people over a three week period. A huge thank you to all those who attended, performed and volunteered over the course of the three weeks!

You can now relive some of our highlights from the festival in the Royal Docks with videos captured by Rebel Films Ltd.

Fire Garden

As dusk turned to darkness, visitors of Fire Garden (Presented by Walk the Plank) wandered on a trail through a magically transformed riverside park landscape in Silvertown, a place with many historic connections with fire. In this atmospheric and enchanting experience there were echoes of local stories, whilst trees glowed with fire and flowers blossom into life with flames. This immersive experience provided the perfect antidote to a summer of isolation, evoking the warmth and generosity of togetherness and renewal.

846 Live

846 Live is a co-production with Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Royal Docks Team in response to the murder of George Floyd on 25 May 2020.

This brutal murder ignited a global surge of anger and pain. From the Windrush scandal to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, racist oppression is very much alive in the UK.

In June 2020, Theatre Royal Stratford East worked with a group of Black and Asian writers, led by Roy Williams, to respond artistically to George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter Movement, creating an audio play 846 – a collection of standalone short pieces exploring racial inequality and oppression. The stories, all unique, span a breadth of themes and emotions, from tragic to angry, to frightening and even funny. Together they form a powerful tapestry of voices.

846 Live draws on those stories, bringing together a selection of the plays to form an arresting outdoor performance.

Please note that some of the plays contain strong language that some audience members may find upsetting. Recommended age guidance 14+

Ring Out

This installation from Ray Lee took the form of a series of giant towers which hold suspended bell-like speaker cones. A team of volunteer bell-ringers started to operate the industrial machinery and make the pendulum arms swing higher and higher until each arm soars up over the heads of the audience ringing forth with a peel of electronic tones.