Why This Bright Land will be the summer’s most joyful festival

The month-long event hosted by fashion designer Gareth Pugh and his husband Carson McColl will take over the capital in August
This Bright Land
Amy Francombe13 June 2022

After two pandemic-enforced years of isolation and loss, the irreverent fashion designer Gareth Pugh and his activist husband Carson McColl couldn’t escape an overwhelming sense of hopelessness in the air. Covid had been a stark reminder that life is short, and the pair felt like they needed to do something to abate the capital’s gloom.

They came up withThe Bright Land, a major new cultural festival taking place across the month of August at Somerset House. The brainchild of the fabulous couple, who together co-founded the independent creative studio Hard + Shiny, it’s set to be a magnificent project that will bring together major artists, cultural figures, community groups and grassroots activists for a much needed celebration.

“We want to bring happiness to people, and create a space for joy and fun and shared experience,” McColl told Dazed. “But we also want to bring stories about radical care and allyship to a mainstream audience.”

With additional curation support from Kartel Brown, a prominent member of the Voguing scene, Kayza Rose, founder of BLM Fest, and Jo Cunningham-Alloway and June Lam, representatives of We Exist, The Bright Land has all the hallmarks to be a certified hit.

Vogue Rites
Vogue Rites

The 29-day long affair will be jampacked with all sorts of fun activities. Live music and dance will play a big role, with weekly Friday night parties that will welcome the likes of Nine Nights – a creative initiative platforming Black creative talent such as Chamber 45, Gaika, GLOR1A, BRBKO and Sandra Omari. They’ll also pay hommage to ballroom culture with weekly Saturday Vogue Balls where performers and house members will compete for trophies and unique prizes in an outdoor extravaganza.

The daytime will be for families. Think: a site-wide treasure hunt hosted by weird and wonderful mascots, an outdoor food market curated by Black Eats LDN, and pop ups with leading beauty brands such as Forest Essentials who will create a sensorial relaxation space where you can test out Ayurvedic products. They’ll also be a free exhibition titled Eternally Yours, which will spotlight sustainable fashion through diverse artists who use upcycling and repurposing at the core of their brand.

Finally, an honourable shout out has to go to the 35-metre observation wheel that promises unreal views of the Thames and Soho.

Black Eats LDN
Black Eats LDN

Curated under the overarching theme of family – whether that be biological family, chosen family, creative family or global family – the vibe is set to feel like one big hug. Be sure to keep your calendars clear in August for This Bright Land.

Full programme and pricing details will be released on 22 June; somersethouse.org.uk

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in