Rankin’s Front Row celebrates the contribution and extraordinary performances
of many great artists and individuals, and supports our fundraising campaign by
encouraging our audiences to Name a Seat in the Royal Festival Hall. Take your
seat alongside the artists and celebrities in Rankin ’s Front Row and contribute to
the refurbishment of Southbank Centre ’s Royal Festival Hall by naming a seat for
yourself or someone special.

Click here to Name a Seat in the Royal Festival Hall
or phone 020 7921 0984

Read and share memories with the Love the Festival Hall project.

Southbank Centre would like to thank Rankin,
Rankin Studio, OmniColour and Shoemaker ’s Elves.

Rankin xx 1/37

My first big break as a photographer came when I was ... READ ON

Sir Terence Conran xx 2/37

As a designer working on The Festival of Britain in 1951, I saw the ... READ ON

Sir Willard White xx 3/37

The Southbank Centre, I love it as it takes on a new mantle right near my doorstep, and ever striving to serve the community creatively, better. An arts centre being a people centre.

Siobhan Davies xx 4/37

The pleasures of going to the Southbank include walking along the ... READ ON

Amjad Ali Khan xx 5/37

I have had the honour and privilege to perform at the ... READ ON

Chi-Chi Nwanoku xx 6/37

The South Bank Centre continues to be an exciting venue for me, ... READ ON

Robin Ticciati xx 7/37

I will never forget my first outing to the hall - Barenboim directing the ... READ ON

Linford Drackett + Jacqui Epelle xx 8/37

READ

Anthony Minghella xx 9/37

Indelible memories from the Festival Hall:
Michael Franti's Spearhead
Van der Graaf Generator
Bach's St Matthew Passion
CK Williams reading from Flesh and Blood in the Voice Box
filming Juliet Stevenson and Michael Maloney hopping by in Truly Madly Deeply

Jacqueline Wilson xx 10/37

I've been enjoying the Southbank Centre ever since it was ... READ ON

Marin Alsop xx 11/37

The first time I appeared in concert at the Royal Festival Hall was ... READ ON

Dave Phillips xx 12/37

The local community have always supported the Southbank, and as a community, fought very hard to make it what it is.

Mitsuko Uchida xx 13/37

Since I came to London thirty years ago, the Southbank has been ... READ ON

David Gilmour xx 14/37

In 1964, when I was eighteen, I managed to buy tickets for 6 shillings ... READ ON

Vanessa-Mae xx 15/37

I frequented the Royal Festival Hall as a child with my parents and ... READ ON

Jude Kelly xx 16/37

I watched Brian Wilson - the acclaimed genius of my teenage years ... READ ON

Brian Eno xx 17/37

I saw John Cage at the Purcell Rooms, Rachid Taha at The Royal Festival Hall and Caetano Veloso at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The World comes to the Southbank Centre and I go along to listen.

Vladimir Ashkenazy xx 18/37

It is a great honour to be associated with the Royal Festival Hall.

Carol Smith xx 20/37

Working with the Royal Festival Hall, I felt like a queen, it was fantastic - I was pampered, the rest of the time you get ignored!

Rosalie Bell xx 21/37

Being in the Rankin photoshoot and poetry performance for Southbank Centre was amazing. It gave me more confidence and creativity and I felt proud to be in something like this.

Sam Taylor-Wood xx 22/37

Every time I visit I am struck by the stark, Brutalist architecture, and yet have always found it a place of endless possibilities for providing inspiration and creativity. To me, they are ugly buildings but with the biggest heart!

Keyci Da Costa xx 23/37

I like it, I enjoy it. I have been down here five times.

Salman Rushdie xx 24/37

In 1997 Laurie Anderson invited me to be part of her "Meltdown" at the ... READ ON

Lemn Sissay xx 25/37

It was the walk across the bridge in London. It was the absolute power of ... READ ON

Fiona Shaw xx 26/37

Of the great nights in the Royal Festival Hall, and there are many, ... READ ON

Vladimir Jurowski xx 27/37

I am eagerly awaiting my return to the Royal Festival Hall - very exciting prospect for all performers and music lovers alike!

Zoe Rahman xx 28/37

The bust of Nelson Mandela at the Southbank often reminds ... READ ON

Linton Kwesi Johnson xx 29/37

As a performer, the Southbank Centre is my favourite UK venue. READ ON

David Squires xx 30/37

We were impressed by the do (Poetry International Launch). READ ON

Isaac Julien xx 31/37

Seeing Toni Morrison and Stuart Hall at the Royal Festival Hall was the most important literary event I have been to, one which has left a lasting impression on me.

CandoCo Dance Company xx 32/37
Celeste Dandekar, Artistic Director

The Royal Festival Hall and I are the same age, both ‘born’ in 1951. READ ON

Kazuo Ishiguro xx 33/37

I like the Royal Festival Hall best when the rain’s coming down. READ ON

Ballet Boyz xx 34/37

The Royal Festival Hall has been the site of recurrent significance ... READ ON

Joanna Lumley xx 35/37

I was first there in 1964, on a dark autumn evening, tickets for a Duke... READ ON

Akram Khan xx 36/37

Southbank Centre has always felt like a place that has been ... READ ON

Alfred Brendel xx 37/37

The Royal Festival Hall has for many years been one of my musical homes. I shall be happy to return to it in its new shape, and listen to the sound with open ears. All warmest wishes!

Click here to Name a Seat in the
Royal Festival Hall


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