London Design Festival embarks on the capital

London Design Festival embarks on the capital

Next week over 9 days between September 15th – 23rd, the largest design event in the capital - the London Design Festival - will be taking place with promises of it being bigger and better than ever before.

The annual design festival is now in it's 16th year, so it's a hugely accomplished date in the London calendar, and this year it will play host to over 400 events, as well as many street installations and pop-up extravaganzas that cannot be missed.

Many of the design events that will transform London over the duration will be free to attend, whilst others will require tickets for entry.

10 official design districts across London

For 2018 there is set to be 10 official design districts that can be easily explored on foot, each of them buzzing with activity and jam-packed with fun events.

Some of the key London Design Festival districts include Brompton in the south west; Pimlico Road and Mayfair in the west end; Bankside, running along the Thames from Borough Market to Oxo Tower Wharf; and Clerkenwell located in east central London.

Districts that are newly added this year include Marylebone, West Kensington, Fitzrovia, Victoria, Regent Street and St James's in west and central London.

Brixton's Design Trail and the newly included Paddington Central Design Route are two walking routes that you should definitely look out for.

There are little red guides available from the festival hub at the V&A, so be sure to make use of this as you wander around the various districts and select from the hundreds of exciting pop-up events and workshops that are taking place right across London.|

'Please Feed the Lion's' interactive sculpture in Trafalgar Square

Last year, stage designer Es Devlin was the winner of the Panerai London Design Medal, so also keep an eye out for her interactive red lion in Trafalgar Square from overnight on Monday September 17th – Sunday September 23rd.

Titled 'Please Feed the Lions', this interactive sculpture was created in partnership with Google Arts & Culture, and the lion will roar poetry and words that are chosen by the visiting public. During the daytime, the collective poem will be broadcast on LEDs in the lion's mouth, and after nightfall it will be impressively projected over the lion and Nelson's Column.

Five major shows offering design inspiration

Throughout the design festival there will be five major shows offering plenty of interior and exterior design inspiration, as well as exciting launches and exclusive one-off discounts.

For more information about the events, hours, tickets and other things of interest related to the festival, head over to the London Design Festival website.

If you're in London taking in the glorious sights of the festival, then why not head over and pay one of our Barbed showrooms a visit? We're located in both Barnes and Chiswick, with a huge variety of contemporary outdoor furniture available to help you garner some of that inspiration and make use of it in your very own garden.

14th September 2018

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