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Basingstoke Festival is a partner in Without Walls, a network of over 35 organisations that brings the best in innovative outdoor arts to towns and cities across England. Since its formation in 2007, Without Walls has developed and toured over 200 new shows both in the UK and internationally across 22 countries.

Without Walls commission outdoor shows of the highest quality that push the boundaries of what outdoor arts can be. Each year, the network presents a programme of new work. The network supports artists that have been working within the outdoor arts sector for many years, as well artists creating outdoor work for the first time.  The network also provides financial support for the research and development of new work, as well as professional and creative development opportunities.

The Without Walls programme tours across the network nationally and internationally, contributing to England’s position as a global leader in outdoor arts. Many of the partners work in areas of low arts engagement and pioneer new forms of creative engagement with and for their communities. From the East End of London to the countryside of rural Cheshire and to Basingstoke in Hampshire – Without Walls’ shows reach audiences far and wide.

Without Walls is funded by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation. Find out more at https://withoutwalls.uk.com/  

As in previous year’s Basingstoke Festival is packed with street theatre, circus, dance, storytelling and music from talented local artists and national acts who have performed across the globe and are stopping in Basingstoke and Deane before heading off on their next international escapade.  The festival has always championed new work that is created with local audiences in mind.

Without Walls has helped bring three shows to Basingstoke Festival in 2024:

A performer pulls against a large metal sandtimer. Green trees are out of focus in the background.

Joli Vyann uses its unique and dynamic style of dance, circus and theatre on a seven-metre-high rotating hourglass to tell the story of civilisation as we know it and its fragile relationship with time and nature. The performance moves through a narrative of climate change, its consequences and the larger question of how humanity copes with the precarious balance that could at any point tip into chaos. Four performers dance, leap, gracefully balance and throw themselves with acrobatic prowess around, on and inside the rotating hourglass.

Catch this show on:
Saturday 22 June and Sunday 23 June in Eastrop Park.

Catch your breath and enjoy a free, freshly made brew in this heart-warming show by Trigger.

Have a well-deserved TEABREAK and as you stir your cup, gently glide through an audio journey of tea and how it has found itself into our tea pots. Tea leaves have journeyed across continents and centuries to take its place as the great comforter of our time. With tea served from Trigger’s beautifully hand painted tuk tuk, this gentle performance brings an uplifting moment of pause. Uniting people across the world and throughout our lives, inviting us to rest, appreciate all that we have, honour moments that have passed and ready ourselves for what is to come.

Catch this show:

Saturday 29 June – Cross Street, Basingstoke
Sunday 30 June – Whitchurch Silk Mill, Whitchurch

TEABREAK Trigger
TEABREAK Trigger

Serving Sounds is a multi-sensory sound installation that creates connection through music – a bar that serves bass rather than beer. The installation is an interactive work, playful and joyful.

You’ll find the ordinary items you’d usually expect to find such as glasses, a lemon and the odd bit of change but at this bar these items, when touched, will create a groove, a sound, strings, a snare, maybe a guitar, or synths if you like.

Catch this show on:

Saturday 6 July – Winchester Street, Basingstoke
Sunday 7 July – Penwood, Hampshire

Working Boys Club

Don’t miss these fantastic performances as part of our packed Festival programme across three weekends from Friday 21 June to Sunday 7 July 2024. Head to the website to start planning your weekends at www.BasingstokeFestival.co.uk.

Notes:

Basingstoke Festival is produced by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and supported through lottery funding from Arts Council England.  The festival is in partnership with Village Hotel Basingstoke and Festival Place

Without Walls is supported by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation. Find out more: withoutwalls.uk.com.

Without Walls logo black


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Save the dates for this year’s Festival!

Get ready to kick off your summer at Basingstoke Festival with three weekends of free street performances for the whole family from Friday 21 June to Sunday 7 July. Pop the dates in your diary to enjoy a programme packed with street theatre, circus, dance, storytelling and music from talented local artists and national acts who have performed across the globe and are stopping in Basingstoke and Deane before heading off on their next international escapade.

Performances will pop-up in Basingstoke town centre and across the borough and are free to watch. This year’s programme is themed on history and is packed with fun, energy, the weird, the wacky and the wonderful as we celebrate everything that makes our borough so special. Expect heritage, arts, culture, community and of course you – our fantastic audiences!

Parade
Basingstoke Festival opening parade

Launching the festival in style is the opening parade on Friday 21 June, where local talent and history combine in a celebratory parade, ending in a dynamic finale show from internationally acclaimed dance theatre company, Motionhouse. Covent Garden favourites Fit Up Productions will also perform its new show ‘Risky Business’.  Local band QMC band, The Details will be getting things started in the amphitheatre.

The first weekend brings a charming, playful, light-hearted and non-verbal acrobatic duet in a show named Tape That. Join Jellyfish Theatre for the second year running at Basingstoke Festival, with its new show The Dragon Wagon following the success of Wagon of Dreams last year. The act is back with more inclusive storytelling fun for children. Enjoy lively and joyous, exhilarating, and exciting HENGE by Motionhouse. Expect silly banter and spectacular tricks with Covent Garden stars Fit Up Productions. Be mesmerised and look at time itself with Joli Vyann in its show Timeless.

HENGE by Motionhouse

Boldly tumbling and gracefully leaping into the second weekend of Basingstoke Festival is Lucky Pigeons, where mischievous creatures are eager to invite everyone to join in on their fun. Take part in something different and put together a playground of sound with Orchestra of Objects. Take some time out to explore the history of tea in Trigger’s Teabreak. Help two happy hikers and dive into a lively dance adventure where tents can dance and massive maps swamp the land in Get Lost.

A photograph of an outdoor performance. Shows a person in a red top pouring a cup of tea for a member of the audience. He smiles. In the background is a bright yellow tuktuk.
Credit: Claire Leach

Not forgetting our fantastic local talent! Join Basingstoke’s favourite environmentalist Junk Jodie as she goes on a Tree-TASTIC journey through the Amazon rainforest with her new friend Jenny Jaguar. Brave explorers from four to 4004 can join the time-travel revolution with local street artist Sarah Thomas-Lane. Another local favourite Scratch Built Productions will bring science to life with The Bonkers Balloon Science Show, sponsored by Tomato Energy. Enjoy a show that is full of spills, thrills, explosions and pops.

Sarah Thomas-Lane

The closing weekend brings Serving Sounds, a bar that serves bass rather than beer. Head on a journey through the history of art- SPLAT! Take part in a historical ramble with the Basingstoke Heritage Society. See like you’ve never seen them before in Familie.

There is so much more to explore throughout the festival including the Festival Hub pop-up in Festival Place, the Whitchurch Open Air Theatre and many other wonderful indoor and community events taking place across the borough.

Can’t wait? Neither can we! Check out the website to see the full programme and all up-to-date information at www.basingstokefestival.co.uk.

Notes:

Basingstoke Festival champions new work created specifically for local audiences and supports the development of new art in the borough. The festival is produced by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

Basingstoke Festival is a partner in Without Walls, a network of organisations bringing innovative outdoor arts to towns and cities across England. Find out more on withoutwalls.uk.com.

Without Walls is a network of over 35 organisations presenting the best outdoor arts to people in towns and cities across England. Since its formation in 2007, Without Walls has developed and toured over 200 new shows both in the UK and internationally across 22 countries.

Without Walls is supported by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation. Find out more: withoutwalls.uk.com.

Basingstoke Festival is in partnership with Village Hotel Basingstoke and Festival Place.


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