A special day or art, dance and performance takes over Portsmouth this Sunday

Portsmouth residents and visitors are being encouraged to head into the city on Sunday 13 September and make a day of a packed programme of art, dance, music and performance taking place as part of the city’s centenary celebrations.

The events form part of The Point Is Portsmouth, a city-wide cultural programme produced by Crying Out Loud to celebrate Portsmouth100.

From stepping inside the extraordinary world of light and colour of Luminarium in Victoria Park to watching some of the UK’s best hip-hop dancers battle it out at Rawkus City in Guildhall Square, the day offers opportunities to watch, take part and experience familiar Portsmouth spaces in completely new ways.

As Portsmouth marks 100 years as a city, The Point Is Portsmouth celebrates the places that have shaped city life and looks at how they can continue to bring people together.

Victoria Park has been Portsmouth's 'People's Park' for generations. Recently restored and revitalised for the future, it feels a fitting home for Luminarium, an artwork built around shared experience, curiosity and connection.

Created by internationally acclaimed artists Architects of Air, the immersive installation invites visitors into a maze of illuminated domes and winding passages where natural light, vibrant colour and an ambient soundscape combine to create an ever-changing sensory experience.

Luminarium opens in Victoria Park from 10am–4pm on Sunday, the final day of its three-day Portsmouth residency. Portsmouth residents can visit for free, with standard admission priced at £8. Advance booking slots are fully booked, but walk-up spaces will be available on the day, subject to capacity. Visitors without a booking are encouraged to arrive early.

From midday on Sunday, the focus also turns to Guildhall Square as Rawkus City returns for Portsmouth’s centenary year.

The only free festival on the south coast dedicated to hip-hop dance, music, arts and theatre, Rawkus City will fill the square with open styles battles, live performances, DJ sets and drop-in workshops.

Open to everyone, the festival gives experienced dancers the chance to compete and perform while inviting complete beginners to step in and have a go.

Sasha Biloshisky, Founding Director of Funk Format, Soul Rawkus CIC and Rawkus City comments:

“Hip-hop culture taught me that anyone can step into the circle. Support from Arts Council England means Rawkus City can bring that into the heart of Portsmouth, free, for every age and every community. It opens doors to the arts that should never have been closed.”

Among the professional performances at Rawkus City is °Up: Violin vs Football by Le Phare, National Choreographic Centre of Le Havre Normandy, performing at 12.30pm and again at 6pm.

Bringing together freestyle footballer Paul Molina and violinist Gabriel Majou, °Up: Violin vs Football is an unexpected duet between two artists from very different worlds. As Gabriel plays the strings of his violin with the same playfulness that Paul dribbles with a football, music and movement come together to transform the performance space into a poetic playground.

The collaboration between °Up: Violin vs Football and Rawkus City has been brought together through Crying Out Loud’s The Point Is Portsmouth, which has created opportunities for local talent and international artists to meet, share ideas and inspire each other.

Community workshops inspired by °Up: Violin vs Football have taken place across Portsmouth over the past week. Led by artists from Le Phare, National Choreographic Centre of Le Havre Normandy, the sessions explore movement, rhythm, coordination and play.

The workshops have brought the work into local communities, with sessions for schoolchildren, Pompey in the Community and other local groups.

Rachel Clare, Artistic Director of Crying Out Loud, said:

“One of the things we’ve wanted to do through The Point Is Portsmouth is create opportunities for people to come together, take part and experience their city differently.

“Sunday is a brilliant opportunity to do exactly that. You can start the day by stepping inside Luminarium in Victoria Park, then visit Guildhall Square where Rawkus City will be in full swing with battles, music, workshops and performances throughout the day.

“°Up: Violin vs Football is another example of that spirit – bringing football, live music and performance together to create something unexpected in a city where football is such a strong part of its identity.

“We really encourage people to head into Portsmouth this Sunday and experience it for themselves.”

That spirit of bringing people and artforms together extends beyond Sunday’s performances, with a cross-artform creative response session taking place inside the Luminarium in Victoria Park. Led by dance artist and theatre-maker Luke Brown alongside movement artist and Rawkus City founder Sasha Biloshisky, the session will bring together six local artists, groups or crews to explore how space, sound, movement and their own creative practices can intersect and spark new performance ideas.

For Crying Out Loud, the weekend represents another major moment in The Point Is Portsmouth, which has been unfolding across the city throughout its centenary year. Through performances, workshops and opportunities to take part, the programme has worked with communities and organisations across Portsmouth to create shared experiences in familiar spaces across the city.

Rawkus City 2026 is supported using public funding by Arts Council England through National Lottery Project Grants.

The Point is Portsmouth is supported by Arts Council England, Portsmouth City Council and Portsmouth Creates.

To find out more visit - https://cryingoutloud.org/upcoming/