Ever since Portsmouth Festivities announced their 14th annual festival programme on April 18th a couple of months ago at a press launch in Portsmouth Guildhall1, with a line-up featuring well over 70 events, excitement has been mounting. Many of the events are free and exclusive to the Festivities, spanning all interests, including music, film, and literature.
2013 s Festivities2 will offer another exceptional year of internationally-acclaimed performers, live events, exclusive talks, and intriguing workshops. These events will last from 21st June to 30th June, in many venues across the city, including a variety of unique historic landmarks.
The Festivities will be starting this week on Thursday 20th, and to help promote the range of events, as well as their own events in the Portsmouth Festivities schedule, Portsmouth Film Society has produced a trailer showcasing their mobile community screenings of Les Mis rables3, Sherlock Holmes4, and Django Unchained5, on June 23rd, 25th and 26th respectively.
Watch it below.
See all Portsmouth Festivities events here6.
The opening concert for the Festivities on Saturday 22nd June is The Water Is Wide7, a performance exclusive to the 2013 programme, presented by one of the world s most celebrated ensembles, The King s Singers8.
The next day, venues throughout Old Portsmouth will be transformed into pop-up galleries for the Spice Island Art Trail9 a unique opportunity for local artists to showcase their work in historic and unusual spaces, and a fantastic free event for locals to come along and see some of the greatest artistic talent in the city.
Sunday 23rd June will see a songwriting competition for 17 25 year olds: The Singer and The Song10, in association with Wedgewood Rooms, Wave 105, and The News. It s an exciting search for the region s greatest young singer/songwriters. Heats will take place online, with an expert panel selecting eight finalists to perform at Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea s premier music venue, on 23rd June.
Winners will receive a package of incredible prizes to support and develop their musical profile and perhaps even spark a lifelong career.
Portsmouth Festivities will also proudly host the world premiere of Ahoy! Sing For The Mary Rose11, which will be performed at Portsmouth Guildhall on Monday 24th June, to commemorate the opening of the new Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth s Historic Dockyard. The show will tell the story of the incredible life of Portsmouth s most iconic and famous ships.
The piece, commissioned by Portsmouth Festivities and written by internationally-acclaimed composer Alexander L Estrange, the story is brought to life through a vivic and lively collission of jazz, sea shanty, Tudor music, and Shakespearean verse.

The performance will span from the ship s beginning during the reign of Henry VIII, through her tragic loss, to her discovery and rise from the depths of the sea. The world premiere musical celebration features children from local Portsmouth school performing alongside The Portsmouth Community Choir, and local actor, comedian, and star of Outnumbers and Mock The Week, Hugh Dennis.
The Kings Theatre and Tongues & Grooves will be working with Portsmouth Festivities to take audiences on a journey to discover the many characters and voices of Albert Road12during the evening of Tuesday 25th June.
Following in the footsteps of the Portsmouth Festivities 2012 Where the Dickens event, the delightfully different evening will feature performances by local poets in a range of unusual venues.
The legendary children s poet Michael Rosen will perform for schools and audiences at The Kings Theatre on Friday 28th June with Centrally Heated Knickers: Adventures in Science and Sound13. The vibrant new show includes songs, grooves, and flights of musical fancy from The Homemade Orchestra.
Children s theatre company Longnose Puppets will bring their magical new show, Arthur s Dream Boat14, to the David Russell Theatre in Portsmouth Grammar School on Saturday 29th June, featuring Tom Gray of the Mercury-prize winning band Gomez. There will be a fantastic chance for young children and their parents to meet the puppets after the show.
Portsmouth Festivities will also be working with Portsmouth Dance Initiative, led by the New Theatre Royal, presenting imPact Dance15 an exciting programme of dance events and workshops throughout the city.
Highlights include free performances by dancers from the world s leading hip-hop dance theatre company, Breakin Convention16.
The Festivities finale this year will take place on Saturday 29th June. The Keep On Rollin wheeled carnival17 will be a celebration of life on wheels. Partnering with the Portsmouth Lions, the Festivities are inviting everyone to bring their bikes, blades, scooters, and skates along to Castle Field between 10:00am and 12:00pm noon, decorate them carnival-style with the help of local artists, and then ride or wheel along the seafront in style at 1:00pm, accompanied by the Portsmouth Roller Wenches18.
References
- ^ 14th annual festival programme on April 18th a couple of months ago at a press launch in Portsmouth Guildhall (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ 2013 s Festivities (portsmouthfestivities.co.uk)
- ^ Les Mis rables (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ Sherlock Holmes (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ Django Unchained (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ here (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ The Water Is Wide (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ The King s Singers (www.kingssingers.com)
- ^ Spice Island Art Trail (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ The Singer and The Song (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ Ahoy!
Sing For The Mary Rose
(teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ voices of Albert Road (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ Centrally Heated Knickers: Adventures in Science and Sound (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ Arthur s Dream Boat (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ imPact Dance (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ Breakin Convention (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ Keep On Rollin wheeled carnival (teamlocals.co.uk)
- ^ accompanied by the Portsmouth Roller Wenches (teamlocals.co.uk)