Greenwich+Docklands International Festival
The Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF) is a free annual outdoor performing arts festival, which takes place across East (Tower Hamlets) and South East London (Greenwich) every summer. Greenwich+Docklands International Festival was founded by Artistic Director Bradley Hemmings in 1996 and is produced by the charitable organisation Festival.org. The festival brings together a programme of UK and international events taking place across 17 days, encompassing large-scale spectacle, theatre, circus and dance.

Founding

The Greenwich+Docklands International Festival was founded by Artistic Director Bradley Hemmings as an independent festival in 1996. The Festival developed out of the former Greenwich Festival into a cross-river festival.

Hemmings also performed as Co-Artistic Director of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony 2012 in London together with Jenny Sealey from Graeae Theatre Company.

Festival programme 
The festival produces site-specific outdoor performances across the breadth of South East London and the City of London. Notable areas where GDIF present work annually include Thamesmead, Woolwich, Greenwich, Newham, Royal Docks, Canary Wharf and The City of London. 

Performances include small to large-scale theatrical and acrobatic shows by national and international artists. GDIF has a tradition of presenting large-scale spectacular shows and ceremonies such as Graeae's and La Fura dels Baus' Prometheus Awakes (2012; Spain/UK),  Compagnie Off's Les Girafes (2011; France), Free Art's Voala (2010; Spain),  Close Act's Pi-Leau (2009; Netherlands), Periplum's and The World Famous's The Bell (2008; UK), Strange Fruit's Absolute Pearl (2007; Australia), Borealis (2021, UK), Spark (2022, The Netherlands) and Resurgam (2023, USA).

GDIF also features two mini-festivals within its programme Greenwich Fair, which brings together a mix of street arts and theatre for a family-friendly day of outdoor arts in Greenwich Town Centre whilst Dancing City, an annual celebration of contemporary dance takes place in the urban environment of Canary Wharf. Dancing City is part of the international Dancing Cities network.

Events address local and global issues through art, such as Woman Life Freedom (2023), a physical theatre piece addressing human rights violations in Iran, and The Architect (2023) an immersive theatre piece taking place on a moving double-decker bus in Greenwich and Deptford, which celebrated the legacy of local teenager Stephen Lawrence who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993. 

GDIF aims to make theatre and the arts more accessible for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists and audiences. In 2023 the festival became the first festival in the UK to be awarded a Platinum status by the accessibility charity Attitude is Everything.

Two of the shows produced for GDIF2012, Prometheus Awakes and Crow) and GDF's production of Close Act's Pi-Leau in Hastings (23 June 2012) were part of the London 2012 Festival, the Cultural Olympiad accompanying the Olympic Games in London. GDIF takes place in Greenwich and Tower Hamlets, both Olympic host boroughs.

Outdoor performing arts 

Since 2011 the festival also hosts London's annual showcase of outdoor theatre with over 150 national and international delegates attending and up to 40 companies presenting. The list of companies showcasing at GDIF 2012 included:

 11:18
 BiDiNG TiME
 Chadwick Song Theatre]
 Circ Pànic
 Circus Diaspora
 curious directive
 Dans La Poche
 D'irque & Fien
 Gijs van Bon
 Graeae

 Handspring Puppet Company UK
 High Hearted Theatre
 Inua Ellams
 Itinerània
 Kazzum
 La Fura dels Baus
 Les Enfants Terribles
 Ljud
 Low
 Marco Neri & Luca Regina
 Mimbre

 nabokov
 Orange
 PanGottic Circus-Theatre
 Plunge Boom
 RashDash
 Requardt & Rosenberg
 Sarruga
 StopGAP Dance Company
 tangled feet
 Whalley Range All Stars

Gallery

Reception 
National press coverage in 2011 described GDIF as a key arts event in London’s cultural agenda with Lynn Gardner of The Guardian saying that the festival's "annual contribution to the happiness of the people of London is unrivalled".

The Telegraph called the event "reliably engaging and innovative", while Time Out described GDIF2012 as "one of London’s greatest free cultural events".

A Younger Theatre described GDIF as "street theatre at its best: epic, emotive and full of surprises."

Funding 
GDF is core funded by Arts Council England.

References

External links 
 
 Official GDIF website

GDIF videos
 GDIF2012 highlights
 GDIF2011 highlights
 GDIF2012 highlights
 GDIF2009 highlights

Theatre festivals in England
Street theatre
Performing arts in London
Dance festivals in the United Kingdom
Festivals in London
Recurring events established in 1996
Tourist attractions in the Royal Borough of Greenwich
Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets