This year, the festival has the theme of “kindness,” and 16 London boroughs will host their own programmes of free workshops and performances supported by Apples and Snakes, a leading spoken-word poetry organisation, and a team of 16 artists in residence. Each borough will host an interactive show with three spoken-word performers rapping and telling stories about kindness in a 45-minute performance. Apples and Snakes will also announce the winners of its inaugural poetry competition for children at the festival’s launch.
The festival provides free events for children who may not have access to arts provision otherwise. The participating boroughs include Brent, Harrow, Bromley, Lewisham, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Merton, Sutton, Newham, Greenwich, Southwark, Wandsworth, Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea. The artists in residence are from diverse backgrounds and champion diversity in all forms.
Apples and Snakes, England’s leading spoken-word poetry organisation, supports poets at all stages of their careers. Since it began in 1982, it has worked with many renowned poets, including Lemn Sissay, Polarbear, Kae Tempest, Benjamin Zephaniah, and Michael Rosen.