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a birds eye view of participants helping to create a communal artwork using vibrant colours
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Relaxed Hour: Arts in the Garden – Light & Colour

Join us for storytelling and colourful art to celebrate Diwali in our beautiful Roof Garden, in a more relaxed environment.

More details for Roof Garden, Queen Elizabeth Hall
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Join us for a relaxed celebration of stories, craft and rangoli for Diwali. Set in the sanctuary of Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden, we explore nature, colour, festivity and the Ramayana story to make for a truly memorable Diwali for all the family.

This event is a quieter time for anyone who might want a little more space or adjustments for sensory sensitivities. This hour is ticketed to reduce capacity and families will be able to explore, play and make at their own pace. There are no lighting effects, and amplified music will be kept low.

Start your adventure by crafting your own clay hand diyas, inspired by the jungle where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana spent their exile. Then dive into the excitement of a large community rangoli; enjoy a burst of colour, using natural materials to contribute to a beautiful, shared design. For those who love detail, there’s a quieter area to make smaller motifs to add to the main pattern or take home, spreading the Diwali spirit of joy, growth and celebration.

At 11am, storyteller Niall Moorjani performs a relaxed retelling of the Ramayana, the Diwali story. Explore Rama and Sita’s journey into the darkness and back into the light. Whether you’re new to the story or have grown up with it, you’re sure to find new wonder with Moorjani’s joyful, warm storytelling.

Come create and celebrate with us in a day full of colourful fun and family togetherness.

Kaajel Patel is a London-based, British-South Asian multidisciplinary artist hailing from Leicester. Her work weaves together painting, dance and installation, creating an immersive fusion of vintage Bollywood, cabaret, mythology, and Indian folklore.

Niall Moorjani is a non-binary, neurodiverse, Scottish-Indian writer and storyteller based between London and Edinburgh. They write for both children and adults, but at the core of all their work are themes of hope, joy and kindness.

Need to know

Age guidance
For ages 3+
Event information

Activities are designed to take place in all weathers so please come prepared to participate whatever the weather.

Free tickets for this event can be booked from 10am on Thursday 24 October.

All adults and children need a ticket.

Please only book tickets for this event if you require the additional access offered by this event for audiences with sensory sensitivities. Otherwise, please drop in from 11.30am to Arts in the Garden: Light & Colour. Find out more

Access

This is a Relaxed event.

This Relaxed Hour event is designed to be more accessible and inclusive for audiences with sensory sensitivities. This may include children, young people and adults with neurodivergence such as autism, learning difficulties or other sensory or communication needs.

There is a relaxed approach to noise and movement in the space, and you are free to enter and exit during the event.

Noise-cancelling headphones for both adults and children are available and there is a chill-out space in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

The capacity for this event is lower with a maximum of 50 people in the space.

We know that some audiences like to know what to expect in the performance and a Social Story will be available to all bookers in advance to help you prepare for your visit.

For your visit

This event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

The Queen Elizabeth Hall is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.

Queen Elizabeth Hall building at Southbank Centre View larger image

Plan your visit

The Queen Elizabeth Hall is home to both our second-largest auditorium and the Purcell Room.

Getting here

Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.

The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues.  More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.

We’re cash-free

Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.

Access

We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.

All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.

All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.

Food & drink

From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.

Places to eat and drink whilst you’re here