Making London extraordinary
London is a great creative capital, but we can’t rest on our laurels, especially in the face of growing international competition. Our creative industries are a major growth sector and our investment in fashion, film, TV and design helps us maintain our leading global position.
Telling London’s cultural story
London is a great creative capital, but we can’t rest on our laurels, especially in the face of growing international competition. Our creative industries are a major growth sector and our investment in fashion, film & TV and design helps us maintain our leading global position.
A staggering 8 out of 10 people say culture is the reason they come to London and with over 15 million visitors a year we are one of the most visited cities on the planet. So we’ve developed the first cultural tourism vision for the capital to really make the most of this opportunity. We have started a new campaign ‘threading’ culture, tourism, retail
and the fashion industry together to position London as the global home of menswear.
Leading on the global stage
We founded the World Cities Cultural Forum, the biggest gathering of global cities - currently 22 - to share ideas and champion culture as the DNA of cities. We also produce the most comprehensive data on culture in cities, showing unequivocally that culture is as important as finance and trade.
Another innovation is our Culture Diary, a one-stop-shop supporting cultural organisations in the planning, programming and promotion of their events and activities around the world.
Make culture a right, not a nice to have
We lead Big Dance, the world’s biggest mass dance event, which reaches over 5 million people in 25 countries and has broken numerous world records!
Gigs, our annual young buskers competition is London’s largest free music festival bringing our streets to life each summer. Every year we help thousands of young people develop their creative potential. The Mayor’s music education programme awards hundreds of scholarships for young musicians and over 1600 school children come up with brilliant ideas for the Fourth Plinth Schools Awards.
Commission world class public art
We proudly run the most talked about public art prize – the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Programme, which showcases bold new work by leading artists like Marc Quinn, Antony Gormley, Yinka Shonibare, Katharina Fritsch, Hans Haacke and David Shrigley.
The Fourth Plinth has become a true icon for London.
Shape new cultural destinations
As London develops we make sure culture is always part of the story – the new developments in Crystal Palace, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the Royal Docks are all fantastic landscapes for fresh creative thinking.
We are reinvigorating the river, illuminating London’s bridges, expanding the Mayor’s Thames Festival into a month long celebration, looking into a new London lido and getting excited about the Garden Bridge!
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