Southwark's Elephant & The Nun Festival

Next weekend, 1 and 2 September, the Elephant & the Nun Festival will be taking place across Southwark, organised by the local authority.

Now the Elephant & The Nun isn’t your normal, rather dull council-run affair – we’ve all endured more than our fair share of those I’m sure. You might describe Southwark’s annual festival as odd, even outlandish – some of the acts performing at the various venues are certainly from the more esoteric end of London’s entertainment scene. Take for example, The Lords Of Lightning who at 8 and 9pm on both Saturday and Sunday will be lighting up level 10 of the mulit-storey car park in Peckham (the one that I mentioned recently which featured an art show and pop-up café during the London 2012 Olympic Games). Not your normal variety act, these guys dress in metallic suits and play with huge tesla coils – it promises to be wildly entertaining and terrifying at one and the same time! On Sunday over in Nursery Row Park there’s A Right Song & Dance – this will be led by actor Chris Green’s drag grandmother character, Ida Barr, who will be leading a old time music hall and rap mashup (yes really!) from 2pm. After Chris has got your head spinning it will be the Ragroof Theatre’s turn to lead a tea dance which will include ‘instant dance lessons’ from Dorothy’s Shoes, as well as performance by the Pop Up Choir and The Movement Factory.

There are an absolute mass of exciting events going on as part of the Elephant & The Nun Festival – on Sunday in particular there will be nine free events across seven parks, as well as that car park in Peckham! You can check out details of all the events at their website here. Just a note of caution to close – because of their likely popularity you will have to obtain free tickets for some of the events in advance. It’s a simple matter of signing up with an email address, but don’t leave it too long - I’ve already booked my spot for The Lords Of Lightning on Saturday evening…