We're very excited about this.
In 1951 war-torn London held a celebration of the future: The Festival of Britain. Held at the newly built Southbank Centre it was a 'tonic for the nation', an event where Britain could dust itself off after the devastation of the war and look hopefully to a brighter future. Little did old Blighty know at the time that we were about to enter into a cultural purple patch which would see our tiny island confidently towing the rest of the world behind us in fashion, art, design and music until the end of the century.
This summer, London puts on its glad rags and celebrates again. But instead of looking forward, this time we look back at our achievements in that magnificent golden age of popular culture. 'The Vintage Festival' at the Southbank Centre, now itself an iconic representation of mid-century architecture, will be a multi-venued extravaganza totally unique to our generation, with the 23 acre site displaying the very finest in British popular culture from art and design to music and film, curated by a select elite of British style icons. The St Peter at the gates of this vintage heaven is fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, founder of clothing label Red or Dead, who together with his wife Geraldine and son Jack gave life to the idea following their hugely successful 'Vintage at Goodwood' festival in 2010.
From Northern Soul clubs to Ealing classic film screenings, if it was made in Britain and it oozes cool, you'll find it here. Each night also boasts a revue show in the stunning 1500 capacity auditorium meticulously refurbished to look the way it did in 1951. With so much to do, there's always the danger of overlooking some of the best events of the weekend in a tizzy of excitement, therefore, let Spoonfed help you plan ahead with our top 5 to-do list for the weekend:
The Warehouse: Friday/Saturday/Sunday
After-hours parties deep in the bowels of the Southbank Centre featuring some of the most influential DJs Britain has ever produced? It'd just be rude not to. Greg Wilson, Norman Jay, Terry Farley, Mike Pickering and Graeme Park (you may need to read those again to take them all in) are just some of the names on this who's-who list celebrating the origins of British rave culture.
Sue Tilley catwalk show: Friday 6pm
A catwalk show from darling of the 80s club scene Sue Tilley, featuring many of the original club kids and some current faces all in the original designs from the time. London's clubbing history paraded in all its glory.
The Bad Art Salon: All weekend
Found a comically bad painting next to some bins? Picked up something aesthetically-offensive in a charity shop? The Bad Art Salon wants to see it. As well as being able to giggle at some shockingly bad creations made in the name of art, this exhibition also raises a bigger question: what is bad art? Who decides? All this will be discussed, but until then you can send your contributions to: badartsalon@vintagebyhemingway.co.uk
CCA Artbus: All weekend
The colourful CCA Artbus is a mobile art gallery created and designed by Sir Peter Blake, who, with his Sgt Pepper album cover created the most iconic piece of British pop culture to this day. The famous design will be on display on board the bus, among a range of other works from the artist.
The Chap Olympiad: 1-3pm daily
If you haven't heard of the Chap Olympiad you're obviously not frequenting the right gentlemen's clubs. Events at the games, which take place in Jubilee Gardens, include 'umbrella jousting' and 'shouting at foreigners'. A brilliant tongue-in-cheek look at our own nation's eccentricity.
So what now for the future? Do we still lead the pack when it comes to cool? Wayne seems confident, “Yeah we do, and the world knows it, but we can't be complacent about it. We used to think they'll never catch us up, but when you look at people like [Chinese artist] Ai Weiwei, he's absolutely bloody brilliant, he's as good as anyone we've got. I've got a feeling that unless we keep working really hard at it, in 10 years they're not going to be far behind. But we've got history to delve into, that melting pot that we've got enables us to keep moving forward.”
The Vintage Festival takes place on 29/30/31st July at the Southbank Centre.
Day pass: £60 (+£15 with revue show)
More info at: www.vintagebyhemingway.co.uk
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