Wemba's Dream, Wembley Park

Many centuries ago, a weary world traveller called Wemba finally stopped at Wembley and made his dream home there. Now, in honour of Wemba and the generations of dreamers who followed in his footsteps, Wembley Park and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), newly installed in the neighbourhood, have joined forces to commission and co-produce a site-specific multi-disciplinary project entitled Wemba's Dream.

Five Brent-based creative groups collaborate with the RPO in a series of free open air performances that aim to show that orchestral music can combine with contemporary dance, theatre, carnival arts, film and the spoken word to produce an all-day-long festival for all the family.

Four shows will alternate in a series of timed performances, as follows:

–The Dreaming Well, Retail Square, London Designer Outlet at 11:00 am, 12.15pm, 1.45pm, 2.45pm
Members of the RPO and Word Up, a north London spoken word organisation, present an immersive performance in which musicians and poets bring some of the local people's aspirations to life .

– Dream Feel, The Events Pad at 11:30am, 1pm, 2pm, 3.15pm
Created by multi-sensory concerts specialists BitterSuite, film maker Yasmin Nicholas and musicians from the RPO, this is billed as a nocturnal sensory adventure where music moves around the audience to conjure up the ever-changing world of dreams.

– When I Wake, The Olympic Steps - Undercroft at 12 noon, 1.30pm, 3pm
FUBUNATION is an interdisciplinary contemporary dance organisation founded in 2017, that fuses hip hop with African influences to create its own unique aesthetic. In this piece they're joined by a quartet of RPO musicians to explore sleep, nightmares and the opportunity of a new dawn. Their performances inaugurate a new public space at Wembley Park, the Undercroft, beneath the new Olympic Steps.

– In Your Wildest Dreams, SSE Arena Square at 12.45pm, 2.15pm, 3.45pm
Carnival comes to Wembley Park with this musical fable of dreams devised and performed by Brent Youth Theatre, musicians from the RPO and the St Michael and All Angels Steel Pan Band. They will parade down the Spanish Steps in carnival costumes created by Mahogany Carnival Arts.

So, if you missed the Notting Hill Carnival or just want to make the most of the dog days of summer, why not take the family to Wembley Park on 11 September and enjoy a lively and varied festival of outdoor theatre and music?