Southbank Centre summer special

If you haven't been down to Southbank Centre for a while, you had better steel yourself for a shock

The long-derided concrete walkways are now ablaze with life. Riverside restaurants spill out on to the embankment, Tracey Emin’s flag flutters atop the flagpole, and Antony Gormley’s eerie figures perch high on surrounding buildings, while in the evenings fairy lights twinkle in trees. And right in the middle, spruced up and glowing with light and colour from within, is once again the beating heart of the Royal Festival Hall, re-emerging from a two-year refurbishment better than ever. Such is the buzz already that Time Out confidently predicts that once the Festival Hall opens on June 8, the reinvented Southbank Centre will be the place to be in London this summer. So here's your essential guide to rediscovering London's South Bank this summer.

What’s on this summer
Four months of brilliant events, concerts, exhibitions, performances and happenings right across Southbank Centre

Where to eat, drink and shop
Great riverside restaurants, bars with outstanding views, and shops with unique gifts

Royal Festival Hall
Behind the scenes as the epic two-year refurbishment reaches its climax

Artist in residence Bob Stanley
Time Out columnist and Southbank artist in residence on his 18 months capturing the essence of the Royal Festival Hall on film

How Southbank has changed
Artistic director of the Southbank Centre Jude Kelly tells Time Out about the shocking changes on London's South Bank and what to expect in the coming months

Memories and moments
Time Out asks the stars including novelist Salman Rushdie and David Gilmour for their fondest memories of the Royal Festival Hall.

Terence Conran
The designer remembers helping build the 1951 Festival of Britain