Join the Proteans as they present a selection of Geoffrey Chaucer’s most famous and celebrated works. A group of ‘pilgrims’ embark on a journey and tell outrageous tales to pass the time featuring a bawdy cast of nuns, knights, cooks, clerks, merchants, squires and even a cockeral or two!
Please note this is a ticketed event with tickets priced at £10 | £8 and available from the Proteus website.
Step inside a shipping container and discover a pop-up world of creativity! Southampton Solent University’s School of Creative Industries brings a bold and unique visual arts showcase to the heart of War Memorial Park. Packed with vibrant ideas from emerging artists, this exciting festival feature celebrates fresh talent shaped by hands-on, inclusive learning.
Something magical is stirring! The wait is over. The giant egg has hatched and the mystery has been solved. The Beast of Basingstoke has woken and is ready to meet its people…
Join over 20 community groups, local schools, and more than 500 marchers as The Parade of the Mythical Beasts launches the 15th year of Basingstoke Festival. Bring your friends, family and ‘roarsome’ energy for an evening of magic, music and myths. Witness a marching menagerie of mystical beasts as dragons, unicorns and phoenixes take to the streets.
Joining the anarchic extravaganza will be Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, the thunderous rhythms of the Basingstoke Silver Band Cavaliers as well as the Royal British Legion Band. You are all encouraged be a part of this joyful street party!
The parade starts at 5.30pm on Cross Street. Watch as the magic unfolds on Church Street, travels past the Willis Museum and the lively, feel-good parade continues down Wote Street, before arriving at the Festival Place Amphitheatre.
The excitement carries on as Mr Wilson’s Second Liners continue the party vibe performing 90s club classics. Tit for Tat Circus will then bring the mischief and mayhem with their new show, A Disorder of Knights, ending the evening with a bang and kickstarting three weekends of fantastic festival fun!
Whether you are a local resident, a visitor or one of the many creative minds who entered the Beast of Basingstoke design competition, this is a celebration for everyone.
We expect the performances to end by 7.30pm
Calling all adventurers! Would you like to take part in an Eco Quest?
The realm of fairytales has been attacked by classic villains who are polluting and destroying their magical world. Can you build the three pigs a new home? Help Jack to plant some magic beans? Take down Captain Hook and his rubbish wielding pirates? Find Thumbelina’s secret habitat?
Have fun exploring this family Trail at Basingstoke Festival and become an eco-warrior along the way!
Join a trio of leading performance poets, Paul Lyalls, Sally Pomme Clayton and Zohab Zee Khan, for a fun-filled, interactive poetry show bursting with rhythm, movement, and imagination. This lively performance, from Apples and Snakes, invites audiences to get on their feet – dancing, singing and joining in – as words come alive. As part of the performance, come and hear a new Ballad for Basingstoke commissioned by Basingstoke Festival.
Duration: 45 minutes
Location 7: ///crowd.intro.toward
A heart-warming, Caribbean welcome awaits during this inter-generational story told through Hip-Hop, street arts and audience participation.
This family-friendly dance theatre show focuses on the importance of intergenerational relationships through the bond between a grandfather and his grandchildren as they prepare for their family talent show. The performance highlights the differences and similarities between the generations and the growth and impact Caribbean culture has had on British Society.
Led by Dani Harris-Walters, Company DHW is a new and exciting hip-hop theatre company which puts community, relatability and inclusivity at the forefront of its work.
Please note, both shows include integrated BSL.
Duration: 30 minutes
Location 7: ///crowd.intro.toward
The future just strutted in on six-inch heels with the loudest silent disco you’ve ever seen. She’s a robot, peacock, drag queen…with disco in her circuits and sass in every feather. Enjoy this high-voltage street takeover from Fit Up Productions where comedy meets robo-cabaret, and every passerby becomes part of the party.
Duration: 35 minutes
Location 6: ///yappy.fits.tuned
New Orleans meets 90s club classics…a rave funeral without the body.
In New Orleans, funerals are celebrated in style, with noisy brass bands processing through the streets. The main section of the parade is known as First Line, but the real fun starts with the Second Line, those who follow the band to enjoy the music, marching with the musicians and twirling parasols or waving handkerchiefs.
Welcome to Second Lining.
A rabble of mischievous northerners, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners form a traditional New Orleans Second Line. However, this is no sombre occasion: Mr Wilson’s expend their collective musical talent paying homage to the diehard days of the Hacienda, 90s club culture and its greatest hero, Mr Tony Wilson.
These revolutionary genre bashers knock the First Line sideways, opting for upbeat dance tracks over traditional slow hymns. Proudly stepping out in uniformed style, they channel the spirit of the 24 hour party people and get audiences dancing wherever they play.
The vision is an anarchic, street extravaganza, bursting with colour and sound, rallying impromptu raves on street corners and rousing audiences young and old into a joyful frenzy.
Friday 19 June – Location 3: /// join.bulb.waving
Saturday 20 June – Location 8 to 7: ///amuse.cheer.demand to ///crowd.intro.toward
