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The Royal Festival Hall is closed to the public on Tuesday 16 June. It will reopen for Harry Styles & Jules Buckley Orchestra ticket holders only at 5pm.

Painted puppets

Rug Rhymes: Autumn

Fri 4 Sep – Fri 16 Oct 2026

Bring the littles and get snug as a bug while the National Poetry Library puppets, Federico and Firebird, share their favourite poems and nursery rhymes.

More details for National Poetry Library Little Library, Level 5, Blue Side, Royal Festival Hall
Tickets £4 View more time and price information
Run time 30 minutes (approx)
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Join us for a welcoming, playful session run by National Poetry Library staff, perfect for introducing under-5s to a love of stories and poems.

Share your favourite nursery rhymes and learn new ones, followed by a chance to explore and borrow books from the National Poetry Library’s Children Collection before we open to the public at 12 noon.

Need to know

Age guidance
For ages 0 – 5. Under-12s must be accompanied by an adult on our site.
Event information

Each ticket admits one child and one adult.

Times & tickets

Dates, times and prices

Dates & times

4 Sep 2026, 11am
11 Sep 2026, 11am
9 Oct 2026, 11am
16 Oct 2026, 11am

Run time

30 minutes (approx)

All timings are approximate and subject to change

Standard entry

£4

Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.

Concessions

Learn more about concession discounts

Refunds and exchanges

Find out more about our refund and exchange policy

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For your visit

This event is held at the National Poetry Library Southbank Centre

The National Poetry Library is open six days a week.

Tuesday, 12 noon – 6pm
Wednesday – Sunday, 12 noon – 8pm
Monday, closed.

A row of colourful lockers in rainbow order View larger image
NPL staff members sat behind the Welcome Desk in the library View larger image
Speaker stood at a yellow podium performing in the National Poetry Library to an audience in front of colourful lockers View larger image
A reading section with red and yellow cushions and chairs View larger image
A locker handle with 3 prongs View larger image
A tour leader speaking to a group of people in the National Poetry Library View larger image
The interior of a library with book shelves, desks and chairs View larger image

Getting here

The National Poetry Library is on Level 5 of our Royal Festival Hall.

Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.

The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues.  More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.

We’re cash-free

Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.

 

Access

We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.

All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access. 

All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.

 

Study & library use

The library is London’s only space dedicated to poetry study. Visitors studying another subject or looking for a place to work are kindly asked to find an alternative space in the Royal Festival Hall.