UNLIMITED Festival: A True Celebration of Disabled Creatives

The Southbank Centre has been presenting the Unlimited festival since 2012, with it being a celebration of work by Disabled, Deaf and Neurodivergent artists.

Since 2013 Unlimited has awarded over £4.8 million to over 460 disabled artists and companies, and their work has been seen by over 5 million people worldwide. It's a true celebration of disabled creatives.

This year's focus is climate change, identity and marganlised experiences, and is jam-packed full of different events and performances, both in person and online. There's so much to see, so here's a few of the highlights to keep an eye on!

Jess Thom's Touretteshero's Masked Ball on the 9th September is set to be a joyous, masked event to allow disabled people to celebrate disability culture during a night of cabaret performances, in a safe way.

Whilst for many people Covid-19 seems to be a thing of the past, for disabled people it's still a very real threat and many have found themselves being shut out of the arts due to a lack of safety precautions being taken in the industry. Jess has created a space to bring these people together in a relaxed environment, and it will also be available to watch online for those who are not yet ready to join in person.

Leave the Light on for Me on the 10 and 11 September is presented by Mind The Gap, England's leading learning disability arts company. Focusing on climate change and justice this will be a rebellious performance led by artists with learning disabilities and autism. Running at 40 minutes, this could be the perfect performance to take the whole family to, with it having a recommended age of 7+. The performance is also relaxed, British Sign Language interpreted and features integrated audio description.

If you're looking for something a little bit different and unique then BODIES, presented on the 8 September might be the performance for you. Created by Ray Young this is a sound and performance installation that takes place in a swimming pool in Leytonstone Leisure Centre.

Participants will spend around 50 minutes in the water, with lifeguards and floating aids being available at all times. The piece explores mature themes of water, climate and social justice and is strictly 18+.

There are also plenty of free events available, including several free films that are being played onsite as well as online, Do Your Own Thing Daytime Disco (doesn't that sound fun!) and entertainment for families.

The festival runs from the 7-11 September, with over 50% of the programme being available for free and 11 events being run digitally. This is the first in-person Unlimited festival since 2018, so head over to the Southbank Centre website to get involved. Full accessibility information for each performance can be found on the website.

Unlimited Festival is at the Southbank Centre 7-11 September