Unlimited, a major cultural event taking place at the Southbank Centre for the duration of the Paralympics, aims to provide a platform for the arts as the paralympics have done for sports. A celebration of disability in the arts, it combines dance, live arts, music, circus and theatre. Highlights include The Garden, a gravity-defying piece of outdoor theatre from Graeae and Strange Fruit; Claire Cunningham who stars in Menage a Trois and who also presents 12, a large-scale production presented with Candoco Dance Company; and the world premiere of Marc Brew Company's Fusional Fragments featuring the Grammy Award-winning percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie.
The Liberty Festival, London's annual deaf and disabled arts festival, not only coincides with the Paralympics this year but it also celebrates its tenth anniversary so we get three days of celebrations (instead of the usual one) with events taking place between 1st and 3rd September at venues across London. On Saturday 1st September, the South Bank offers film screenings at the BFI Southbank, live performances outside the National - part of their Watch this Space festival - and the Tenth Anniversary Celebrations at the Southbank Centre which finish with a night of cabaret in the Clore Ballroom. The following day the festivities move to Trafalgar Square where free music and theatre will be shown alongside BT London Live with all the sporting action from the Stadium in Stratford shown on the big screen. Finally, on Monday 3rd September, head to Liberty at Picture: Potters Fields for an afternoon of free entertainment and live sports hosted by comedian Gareth Berliner.
On the closing weekend of the London 2012 Games (8th and 9th September) there's another big finale: the annual Mayor's Thames Festival which provides two days of street entertainment, art installations, music and dancing at various riverside locations between Westminster Bridge, Tower Bridge and beyond. This year there's a Rio-style float - a nod to the next host city - a 120-strong choir performing on HMS Belfast and, for the grand finale, there's a colourful carnival followed by a massive free fireworks display that spans almost half a kilometre between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridge. The festival will be a great way to bid a fond farewell to an amazing summer, and as the last firework fizzles out over the river it'll be a poignant reminder of where it all began - with a remarkable river pageant held in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.