A summer of fun at Somerset House

For some it’s an oasis of calm before the working day begins, for young visitors and families it’s a surprising and joyful playground of fountains, while others regard it as the setting for their favourite summer music festival. However you experience Somerset House, summer has arrived in style and there’s no better place to enjoy the sunshine, right at the heart of London.

Our major exhibition celebrating 50 years of Black creativity, Get Up, Stand Up Now, opened last month to great acclaim, with the Evening Standard awarding it ★★★★★ and calling it, “Unmissable - a brilliant, sprawling celebration of Black diasporic creativity”.

Get Up, Stand Up Now trailer

We kicked off the exhibition with two weekends celebrating the incredible contribution of Black culture to Britain in our courtyard. TV chef Andi Oliver and musician Neneh Cherry cooked up a delectable BBQ feast before DJing side-by-side for Wadadli Days and Nights. The following weekend we welcomed Baroness Floella Benjamin to mark the first ever national Windrush Day, with two days of music, food, artist talks, workshops and more filling our building with the food, sounds, and voices of Black British creativity.

Wadadli Days and Nights with Andi Oliver and Neneh Cherry

The Mangrove Steel Band

Next week the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court will once again be transformed into London’s most beautiful gig setting for Summer Series, with 11 nights of essential artists playing intimate headline performances to a crowd of music lovers in the open air. Five gigs are now sold out, so be quick to snap up tickets for some of this year’s highlights, whether you’re riding the new wave of great British jazz with Sons of Kemet or travelling on a defiant journey from English music hall to Afrobeat and reggae with The Good, The Bad and The Queen.

Summer Series 2018 highlights

August sees the return of one of London’s best loved traditions, Film4 Summer Screen. With London’s largest outdoor screen and full surround sound, we’ll be bringing you an outdoor cinema experience like no other with our film lover’s mix of contemporary classics, double bills and UK premieres, including our closing night feature Inna De Yard, the Buena Vista social club of reggae starring a legendary group of Jamaican musical pioneers.

We’ve an expanded range of seating options this year too, and with live music, sundown DJ sets and a choice of incredible street food and dining experiences, it’s the ultimate film night out under the stars.

Film4 Summer Screen

The Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court is open to everyone to enjoy, whether you’re cooling off in the fountains or enjoying a bite to eat or a refreshing tipple from one of our many bars, cafes and restaurants. We hope to see you here soon.

The Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, Somerset House

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