Seven Dials aims to attract more visitors with live music

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 21, 2021

As retailers and their landlords pull out all the stops in order to attract as many shoppers as possible back into their stores, landlord Shaftesbury has relaunched a previous initiative it's used in the Seven Dials area.

Seven Dials Unplugged has been reintroduced “to provide a taste of music throughout the destination’s iconic streets”. It ties in with the widely held belief that experiences will be even more important in encouraging consumers to shop physically again post-pandemic.

At the weekend, alfresco acoustic sets were performed by seven up-and-coming UK-based artists and the performances will continue to take place on Saturdays for seven weeks in Seven Dials.

Running into June (at which point all social life restrictions should be ended in the UK), the performances happen between 2pm and 7pm, Each individual one lasts 15 minutes and all of them take place simultaneously in a number of different outdoor locations throughout the intertwined streets, “encouraging visitors to walk and listen to multiple performances at once”. 

The line-up includes an eclectic mix of acoustic genres and sounds, including retro-indie-pop singer Cheriton, singer-songwriter duo The Stone Jets and violinist duo Momento.

Seven Dials has been growing in importance as a key shopping destination in recent years with a large number of openings there and the neighbourhood being particularly important for independent fashion and beauty shops.