Often described as a ‘mini Fringe festival’, Market Harborough’s Arts Fresco is a free street theatre festival, that for one day every September, transforms the town centre into the biggest street arts festival in the Midlands. Every year thousands of people flock to Market Harborough to wander the streets, mingling with roaming dinosaurs, mad chefs and wheelie bins that drive themselves. Performers from all over Europe take part, from big names in the world of street theatre to unknown artists looking to build their careers, with many of them coming back again and again.

Originally set up in 2002 by George Kitson and fellow Harborough Theatre members, Arts Fresco is now run by a committee of volunteers, who all live in the town and care deeply about making Arts Fresco a success. Arts Fresco is a not-for-profit organisation, and every penny raised goes into making the next festival bigger and better than the last. Arts Fresco attracts around 10,000 people, and presents over 50 professional street performers.

Acts this year include the return after a number of years of French theatrical brass band Les Grooms, plus old favourites like Edmond Tahl and Circus Box. New acts include Roo’d, Sid Bowfin and Balloonatic. This year’s Arts Fresco Street Theatre Festival will to take place on Sunday 6th September from 11am to 4pm in Market Harborough’s town centre, which will be closed to traffic. There are four main areas in the town where different acts involve the audience in their original performances.

Also, a number of walkabout acts will encourage people to follow them around the town, plus there is the Children’s Village in the Memorial Gardens, kindly sponsored by Market Harborough Building Society. This offers drop-in circus workshops, including juggling, tightrope and stilt walking. Thanks to the Angel Hotel, Joules Yard & Eating House, Waitrose and the Rotary Club of Market Harborough for supporting the event this year.

Go to www.artsfresco.com or follow the twitter account @artsfresco

 
Arts Fresco