Battersea Power Station opens its doors to the public today in conjunction with a five-day Festival of Power programme that will run for two weekends.
The opening will also see the launch of a new app called Bright Sparks Trail, which leads users through the history of the former power station.
Filled with geo locations, photo uploads, trivia, quizzes, and missions, the app will also lead visitors to secret live performances across the site, from an RAF pilot to a busking stage.
Budding musicians can even enjoy their moment in the spotlight, with a ‘people’s piano’ located inside Turbine Hall B, which is free for visitors to play.
But when does Battersea Power Station open and what is there to do?
When does Battersea Power Station open to the public?
Battersea Power Station opens to the public at 10am today (Friday, October 14), alongside a new pedestrianised high street, Electric Boulevard.
The Festival of Power programme, filled with live performances and family-friendly activities, will run for two weekends, from Friday, October 14 to Sunday, October 16, and then again from Saturday, October 22 to Sunday, October 23.
What is there to do?
The public launch will see visitors explore the restored Battersea Power Station for the first time, and enjoy the first shops, bars, restaurants, and leisure venues opening in the Grade II* listed landmark.
In the morning of Battersea Power Station’s opening day, an official countdown will take place in Malaysia Square to the south of the Grade II* listed building, at 10am.
The countdown will feature a showcase of performances from up-and-coming talent, aged 16 to 25, from the Battersea and Nine Elms area as well as the Setia Drummers, a troupe of Malaysian musicians.
On the night, from 7pm, a duelling show involving multi-million-volt bolts being fired between the two ‘Lords’, called Arcadia’s Lords of Lightning, will be hosted.
Battersea Power Station will also introduce its first wave of restaurants, including a 1950s-style all-day bar called Control Room B, which is located within one of the Power Station’s original control rooms.
The building will also offer a unique glass elevator experience inside the north-west chimney called Lift 109, where visitors can catch panoramic views of London from a height of 109m from ground level.
Visitors can indulge in the capital’s best food and drink pop-ups along the riverwalk in front of the building.
Those who want to enjoy the neighbourhood riverside settings can dine at Francesco Mazzei’s Fiume, Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Kitchen, Wright Brothers, Tapas Brindisa, or Gordon Ramsay’s Street Pizza, to name a few.
Visitors can also shop inside the power station’s unique turbine halls, which have been restored to their former glory.
Stores include Ralph Lauren, Jo Malone London, Space NK, Hugo Boss, Mango, Uniqlo, as well as a new neighbourhood bookstore.
Further brands and shops will open throughout the rest of 2022 and into 2023.
