Following a successful series of events in October, the Unlocking Peterborough festival continues its free performances with an exciting line-up to kick off the Christmas season.
Circus performances, strolling musicals, street theatre, work by local artists and a Christmas winter wonderland are all part of the next events happening in Peterborough city centre.
The weekend of November 27 and 28 will open the Christmas season with a mixture of street acrobats, circus walkabouts and painters creating murals. This will all form part of a wider celebration of art with in the city centre as work by local artists will also be on display.
Roaming around this hub of creativity will be the Winter Wonderland Birds. These feathered beauties bring the sounds of peacocks to Peterborough with magnificent visual effect. More sound is brought by the Dickensian Christmas Ding Dong, a virtuoso strolling musical performance decked in holly and ivy. Christmas stilt walkers Tinsel and Cracker will roam Peterborough with a huge helping of festive fun and cheer.
A magical site that will delight the kids (and grown ups too) will be appearances by the mesmerising Winter Fairy on December 11 and 12. She conjures up crystal balls and skilfully moves them like ice bubbles as she moves effortlessly through a crowd.
Roller Skating Illuminated Presents will be zooming around too. Costumed as beautiful, giant presents and fitted with twinkling illuminations, these are wonderful for families and photo opportunities. The Christmas Belles summon the spirit of Christmas past. The stilt-walking duo shimmer scarlet and wave gold ribbons. They bring music by ringing out yuletide chimes of good cheer with syncopated hand chimes.
(Photo: WorldBeaters Music -Spark! photo credit Vale of Glamorgan Council)
Then it's time for the grand finale on Sunday December 19 with Spark! making appearances between 1pm and 5pm. This street theatre show combines high-impact drumming with kaleidoscopic lighting design with the drummers parading between sites and interacting with audiences. With excellent costume design that lights up at night, a Spark! performance is never forgotten once seen.
Unlocking Peterborough kicked off in mid-October with LOVEART, a 12-metre-high vibrant red heart that lifted and framed an elegant aerial performer in Cathedral Square, this feat of acrobatic artistry put a heart in the heart of the city.
Halloween saw further spectacle with strange encounters from other-worldly creatures. The silent Las Muertas Stilt Walkers were joined by Cali and Mari the Octopi and the Damsels in Distress, who roamed Cathedral Square atop their dragons in their search for Prince Charming.
The Christmas season will continue the festival’s aims of revitalising the arts and renewing citizens’ connection with the city – with a sprinkle of festive magic. Unlocking Peterborough is presented by Peterborough Positive, and funded by the Welcome Back fund, supporting a safe and successful reopening of local economies.