1,000 morris dancers appear on London’s streets

Members of Hammersmith Morris and The Belles of London City performed in Southbank Centre Square on Tuesday morning to launch the festival.

When Lord Coe was interviewed in Beijing about a possible opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, he quipped that he would invite 5,000 Morris Dancers to take part.

Artist David Owen picked up on this sarcastic remark. "We thought we would try to prove that that could actually look good," he says.

"It could be alternative, very sexy, very different and the morris dancer could be recast as a bit of a cult figure."

As well as three day art installation around Southbank Centre from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 September, there will be a range of morris dancing-related events across Southbank Centre, and on Saturday and Sunday afternoon 100 morris dancers from across England will perform on the Queen's Walk outside Royal Fesitval Hall.