Clouse Encounters at the Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall will be mission control for all things outer space and extra terrestrial when it presents a week long, highly innovative festival called Close Encounters, combining arts, science, fun and education.

Visitors of all ages will discover a whole new world when they enter the Royal Albert Hall Mother Ship for a multi-sensory intergalactic experience from 25 – 31 October.
 
Close Encounters forms part of the Royal Albert Hall’s strategy to open its doors to a broad range of audiences. Featuring a series of artistic events both titled and themed around space, astrobiology, extra terrestrial activity, alien forms, and communication in the solar system, there will be something for everyone throughout this alien, action- packed week, with many of the activities free of charge.

The question, ‘is there life out there’ continues to intrigue and excite generation after generation and so too will ‘Close Encounters.’ The Royal Albert Hall’s prestigious Elgar Room will be a hub of activity as it hosts the ‘Craters, Collisions and Catastrophes’ show in partnership with the Royal Observatory as well as a talk from Dr. Lewis Dartnell on ‘Astrobiology – the hunt for alien life.’  There will also be screenings in the Elgar Room of retro films including ‘E.T.’ where children can dress up as little aliens, ‘Close Encounters’ and late night showings of ‘Alien’ and ‘Barbarella’ for the alien elders- who can dress up if they wish!
 
Interactive highlights during the week include the ‘Mountains on the Moon’ workshop, the ‘Make a crater activity’ and the ‘Down2Earth crater simulator’ – all fun-filled and packed with facts, aimed at 9-14 year olds.  Kids and adults alike can head deep down into the main Hall and climb into huge, specially erected Planetariums (to hold up to 30 individuals) to further engage and explore!
 
Two popular Hall series will also be included to coincide with the festival. As part of the Hall’s reflect series, The Royal Observatory Greenwich and Armagh Observatory will present a free photographic exhibition entitled From Earth to Universe where visitors will be treated to stunning images of the solar system and planets. Also, as part of the ignite brand, music lovers of all ages will be treated to free space themed concerts in both the Café Consort and Elgar Room, the later featuring the Hall’s very own Albert’s Band.
 
Inside the venue, there is plenty to see, hear, touch and feel but visitors will also be encouraged to explore the outdoors for signs of alien invasions.  For the duration of the Festival, a crashed space ship installation, designed by students from the Royal College of Art will be visible on the South Steps, but the whereabouts of the life force it contained will be unknown and visitors will need to explore further….
 
The Festival is quite literally an ‘alien’ event for the Royal Albert Hall as never before has the UK’s most prestigious venue taken such an innovative and diverse turn to a world beyond our own.
 
Lucy Noble, Head of Programming at the Royal Albert Hall said:

“We are thrilled to be presenting Close Encounters here at the Royal Albert Hall which is something very different for us- a week long festival of artistic events through a variety of creative media based around the theme of extra terrestrial activity and communication in the solar system. We are looking to broaden people’s perceptions of the Royal Albert Hall, engage with new and young audiences and work with new and innovative partners and I believe that this will be a unique event for Londoners of all ages to be involved in.” 

Dr Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer, Royal Observatory, Greenwich said:

“The astronomy team at the Royal Observatory are very excited to be part of the Close Encounters Festival.

“As the home of Time and Space, Greenwich is a centre for all things astronomical and it's great to have the opportunity to bring the wonder and excitement of space to new audiences at the Royal Albert Hall. We'll be running a variety of talks and family activity sessions looking at craters and meteorite impacts - some of the biggest collisions in the Solar System - so it should be pretty explosive.”

For more information and tickets, visit: royalalberthall.com