Fringe-style festival kicks off in derelict building

Performers from across London are launching an Edinburgh Fringe-style contemporary arts festival.

It includes a ballet performance in the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington which is now derelict. More than 100 artists, actors, dancers, comedians and technicians will take part in one-off events all over the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which include performances in Brompton cemetery and on the N11 night bus from Liverpool St as part of the InTRANSIT festival.

A blue plaque bicycle tour around the Royal Borough offers accounts of the lives of famous residents.

The disused Commonwealth Institute, which is to be turned into the London Design Museum, is being opened to the public for the first time in 10 years for the ballet tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. Audiences are expected to interact with the dancers who will rope them together and lead them through the building.

Collaborators include Opera Holland Park and the London Contemporary Orchestra. Prices range from £7.50 to £18.50.

The ballet launches the festival which will run from July 22-31.