Dodge, Somerset House

Postponed from January but all the more appropriate for summer, Dodge is a new al fresco festival-style experience set to enliven the Somerset House courtyard with a swathe of colourful artworks, late-night DJ sets and musical dodgems.

In charge of the art direction is designer of the moment Yinka Ilori, co-designer of this year’s BRIT Awards, who is infusing the courtyard with colourful installations and electric energy. Ilori has conceptualised colourful seating pods too, for guests to drink, lounge and soak up the atmosphere between rides.


Designer Yinka Ilori is behind the art installations of Dodge

Mercury-shortlisted composer and musician Anna Meredith MBE has collaborated with Bafta-winning sound artist Nick Ryan to lend the site’s fairground dodgems a musical twist: an interactive sound system has been fitted to individual cars, allowing each bump to trigger a three-minute musical reaction.

Behind the food is barbecue maestro Jimmy Garcia, who has created a summer feast complete with bone marrow burgers, sriracha fries and freshly made buratta from London’s La Latteria. At the weekend, waffle-led Bump & Brunch packages will see the bubbles flowing, while nostalgia-inducing sundaes will complete the fairground experience.


Jimmy Garcia's summer feast

On weekends and select nights, guests can look forward to live DJ sets from Sink the Pink’s Jonbenet Blonde, Jazz re:freshed and Zakia Sewell, among others, who will be carrying the festival vibes into the night.

Running from Thursday 15 July to Sunday 22 August, the festival-inspired installation follows on from the London Design Biennale, which this year sees the versatile Georgian courtyard transformed into a 400-tree forest of reflection by Designer ES Devlin.

Admission to Dodge at Somerset House is free, with dodgem rides for £5 and packages from £10. Click here to book.