5th June 2026
June news: East Bank shows us The Music Is Black, Milton Keynes makes a case for culture, AHEC and Volum kick off in Copenhagen
Flowers from the Farm bag Chelsea medal; Webb Yates builds borders for London Festival of Architecture, and community campaign Colvestone Corner continues in Hackney
The Music Is Black Festival curator team. Photography by Adama Jalloh.
East Bank
Tuning up for The Music Is Black Festival
Tuning up for The Music Is Black Festival
East Bank is cementing itself as a major new addition to London’s international cultural circuit and for the summer will host four specially programmed summer weekends of live music and performance in the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The season kicks off on 13–14 June with a free weekend of live music and performance as part of The Music Is Black Festival – East Bank’s eight-month celebration of sound, culture and community in honour of the artists and creators who have shaped Black music in Britain, and those who are building its legacy for the future.
Curating the weekend line-ups are the likes of Jamz Supernova, Shy One, FLOHIO, and more. Footsie, YolanDa Brown and co are taking the helm for weekend one this month – ‘The Music is Ours’ – a block party-inspired homage to London's soundsystem culture in the birthplace of Grime. Get ready for the party of the summer – this is where sound lives and culture moves.
Check out the line-up
The season kicks off on 13–14 June with a free weekend of live music and performance as part of The Music Is Black Festival – East Bank’s eight-month celebration of sound, culture and community in honour of the artists and creators who have shaped Black music in Britain, and those who are building its legacy for the future.
Curating the weekend line-ups are the likes of Jamz Supernova, Shy One, FLOHIO, and more. Footsie, YolanDa Brown and co are taking the helm for weekend one this month – ‘The Music is Ours’ – a block party-inspired homage to London's soundsystem culture in the birthplace of Grime. Get ready for the party of the summer – this is where sound lives and culture moves.
Check out the line-up
Milton Keynes’ annual Midsummer Festival. Photo by Chris Henley.
Milton Keynes
An event-packed summer of celebration
An event-packed summer of celebration
Just shy of its 60th birthday, Milton Keynes has its eyes firmly on the title of UK City of Culture 2029 and, if its summer event calendar is anything to go by, the bid for #MiltonKeynes2029 will be a compelling one.
From Europe’s biggest reggae festival and the annual Midsummer folk-fest to grassroots community cultural celebrations and a city-wide programme of pop-up creative workshops, the season’s schedule is jam-packed and eclectic enough to entertain all ages, tastes and backgrounds.
What’s going on?
From Europe’s biggest reggae festival and the annual Midsummer folk-fest to grassroots community cultural celebrations and a city-wide programme of pop-up creative workshops, the season’s schedule is jam-packed and eclectic enough to entertain all ages, tastes and backgrounds.
What’s going on?
Photo courtesy of AHEC. Mitre & Mondays at Benchmark, by Petr Krejčí.
AHEC x Mitre & Mondays
Wood for the Trees at 3daysofdesign
Wood for the Trees at 3daysofdesign
The first of two projects at Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign that team Zetteler is excited about, the AHEC-backed Mitre & Mondays commission Wood for the Trees is an immersive exhibition that takes visitors on a journey through the life of hardwood timber from seed to finished product.
Offering all-senses insights into the world of sustainable forest management, Mitre & Mondays dive deep into the themes from AHEC’s feature film Forested Future to make a case for the long-term stewardship of nature.
Into the wood
Offering all-senses insights into the world of sustainable forest management, Mitre & Mondays dive deep into the themes from AHEC’s feature film Forested Future to make a case for the long-term stewardship of nature.
Into the wood
VOLUM 01 photoshoot. Photography by Anne Valeur.
Volum 01
An exhibition of the (extra) ordinary
An exhibition of the (extra) ordinary
Also stirring up excitement in Copenhagen is Volum – the new platform celebrating contemporary voices in Norwegian design. For Volum 01, its second showcase as part of Other Circle on 10–13 June, curators Kråkvik & D’Orazio turn their attention to the ‘(extra) ordinary’, bringing together 15 works that capture the emotion and expression of everyday objects, combining beauty and utility.
Accompanying the physical exhibition, a creative campaign featuring movement artist Aslak Aune Nygård uses dance to explore the relationship of each object with the human body.
Discover Volum 01
Photo by Stephen Chung.
Flowers from the Farm
Chelsea medal win and SIC recognition
Chelsea medal win and SIC recognition
Great news for Flowers from the Farm! Its RHS Chelsea Flower Show installation won a Silver-Gilt Medal – welcome recognition for the miniature flower farm celebrating the diverse crops British flower farmers can grow this season.
Adding to the celebrations, Flowers from the Farm has successfully secured an official Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, marking a landmark moment for the UK flower industry. Previously invisible in broader agricultural statistics, the £30 million-a-year British flower farming sector – where 8 out of 10 FftF members are women – is now formally recognised by policymakers. “I have been proud to work with growers and Flowers from the Farm to press the Treasury to properly recognise this sector,” said Sarah Dyke MP, Liberal Democrat Rural Affairs spokesperson.
Follow flowers
Adding to the celebrations, Flowers from the Farm has successfully secured an official Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, marking a landmark moment for the UK flower industry. Previously invisible in broader agricultural statistics, the £30 million-a-year British flower farming sector – where 8 out of 10 FftF members are women – is now formally recognised by policymakers. “I have been proud to work with growers and Flowers from the Farm to press the Treasury to properly recognise this sector,” said Sarah Dyke MP, Liberal Democrat Rural Affairs spokesperson.
Follow flowers
Courtesy Jam Jam.
Flowers on the Edge
Cross-generational curated floristry experience
Cross-generational curated floristry experience
Floristry curatorial platform Flowers on the Edge is launching the first of its two major events for 2026. The Florists’ Table is a one-day, one-off, one-of-a-kind experience, bringing together 15 pairs of floral designers to create artistic, season-led tablescapes.
Taking place on Thursday 18 June, the Florist’s Table is an immersive experience for creatives, artists, designers, growers, makers and cultural thinkers to come together, sit among the flowers, and exchange ideas across disciplines.
The afternoon event will also offer a meet and mingle with the designers, live tablescape installations and a Flor-art-istry Rebellion panel discussion with designers exploring their work, ethos, the industry and the future of floristry.
Pick up a ticket
Taking place on Thursday 18 June, the Florist’s Table is an immersive experience for creatives, artists, designers, growers, makers and cultural thinkers to come together, sit among the flowers, and exchange ideas across disciplines.
The afternoon event will also offer a meet and mingle with the designers, live tablescape installations and a Flor-art-istry Rebellion panel discussion with designers exploring their work, ethos, the industry and the future of floristry.
Pick up a ticket
Playrise at Museum of the Home. Photo credit: Dmytro Shovgelia.
Playrise
Marking the International Day of Play
Marking the International Day of Play
Thursday 11 June is the International Day of Play, which might sound light and fun, but for the millions of children in disaster-relief zones worldwide, play – or rather, the lack of it – is a serious business.
Playrise, the UK-based charity designing and building modular play structures, has progressed from research to prototype and action at an impressive pace. Having debuted their first working models at Museum of the Home in March this year, the team will soon be taking the structures to refugee camps in Aysaita, Ethiopia.
That’s not all. A new, urgent campaign is soon to be announced – with a plan to build six playgrounds in one of the world’s most desperate places. Watch this space for more.
Serious play
Playrise, the UK-based charity designing and building modular play structures, has progressed from research to prototype and action at an impressive pace. Having debuted their first working models at Museum of the Home in March this year, the team will soon be taking the structures to refugee camps in Aysaita, Ethiopia.
That’s not all. A new, urgent campaign is soon to be announced – with a plan to build six playgrounds in one of the world’s most desperate places. Watch this space for more.
Serious play
Photo courtesy of Colvestone Corner.
Colvestone Corner
A grassroots alternative to gentrification
A grassroots alternative to gentrification
An inspiring example of how creative-thinking communities can have a meaningful impact on their neighbourhoods, Colvestone Corner is a collective proposal to bring Dalston’s former Colvestone Primary School back into public use, steered by the vision of architectural designer Teshome Douglas-Campbell.
Teshome has teamed up with collectives Stour Trust, Unit 38, The Ubele Initiative, RISE 365 and Race Equality Foundation, bringing together lived experience of living and working in Hackney to reimagine the school as a series of spaces to serve all members of the community.
Centred on and celebrating Black and Global Majority communities, Colvestone Corner represents an alternative to pervasive gentrification – rooted in the ideals of long-term stewardship, community wealth building and collective care.
Learn more and get involved
Teshome has teamed up with collectives Stour Trust, Unit 38, The Ubele Initiative, RISE 365 and Race Equality Foundation, bringing together lived experience of living and working in Hackney to reimagine the school as a series of spaces to serve all members of the community.
Centred on and celebrating Black and Global Majority communities, Colvestone Corner represents an alternative to pervasive gentrification – rooted in the ideals of long-term stewardship, community wealth building and collective care.
Learn more and get involved
No.1387 Fence (2024), Switzerland, by Rana Begum with Webb Yates.
Rana Begum x Webb Yates
LFA sculptural installation confronts the politics of borders
LFA sculptural installation confronts the politics of borders
Due to be unveiled on 19 June during the London Festival of Architecture, a new sculptural installation by artist Rana Begum with engineering practice Webb Yates confronts the contemporary politics of borders with a poetic reflection on fencing.
The latest chapter in a long-standing, organic collaboration between the two, No.1616 Fence (2026) is a monumental new installation that plays with a material paradox, challenging the physical infrastructure of privatisation, surveillance, and anti-immigration.
Standing outside the iconic Space House in central London, the installation is built from industrial, powder-coated mesh: a material that both closes off physical access while remaining entirely visually open. The inherent transparency and porosity of the mesh allows the city to poke through, creating a fluid visual dialogue with the surrounding site.
The installation is completely modular and assembled entirely from off-the-shelf commercial components. After the festival, the piece can be easily disassembled, with all materials able to be reused once again.
Also during London Festival of Architecture, keep an eye out for East's Oxford street walking tour and Chybik & Kristof's talk Modernism, Industry and Community.
The latest chapter in a long-standing, organic collaboration between the two, No.1616 Fence (2026) is a monumental new installation that plays with a material paradox, challenging the physical infrastructure of privatisation, surveillance, and anti-immigration.
Standing outside the iconic Space House in central London, the installation is built from industrial, powder-coated mesh: a material that both closes off physical access while remaining entirely visually open. The inherent transparency and porosity of the mesh allows the city to poke through, creating a fluid visual dialogue with the surrounding site.
The installation is completely modular and assembled entirely from off-the-shelf commercial components. After the festival, the piece can be easily disassembled, with all materials able to be reused once again.
Also during London Festival of Architecture, keep an eye out for East's Oxford street walking tour and Chybik & Kristof's talk Modernism, Industry and Community.
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