What one thing signals the arrival of a London summer for you? For some, it’s the sight of drinkers spilling onto the streets outside pubs, for others it’s the return of the street performers to Covent Garden but for me its the sight of an upturned purple cow beside the banks of the Thames.
The cow, or to give it it’s official name, the Underbelly, is this year celebrating its 10th Birthday on the Southbank and the organisers are marking the occasion with their biggest and best programme yet.
The venue, the Underbelly London is open from April until the end of September, with the festival regularly playing host to live circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment during that period.
The highlights of the 2018 festival look set to be comedian James Acaster’s new show (which unsurprisingly sold out in a few days), ventriloquist Nina Conti’s ‘Work in Progress’ and comedian Sarah Pascoe’s laugh fest, ‘LadsLadsLads’.
Other highlights include:
The Thinking Drinkers’ ‘History of Alcohol’ – the show will give festival goers a chance to imbibe (five complimentary drinks are included in the ticket price) as well as learn more about alcohol’s “role in world history”.
Austentatious, where a cast of comedy high-flyers use audience suggestion to improvise a Jane Austen novel.
The House of Burlesque. The show will see the HOB team take Southbank audiences on a “series of glamorous and provocative journeys”.
The shows are short (most last around an hour) and the tickets are competitively priced with the majority of tickets available for under £20.
The Underbelly London is open until the 14th September 2019.
Find more great things to do in the capital this summer with City Countdown’s guide to the best things to do in London in August 2019.
