New season of arts events set to inspire and amuse

The hills and streets of the Lake District will come alive to the sights and sounds of a new season of arts events in 2008. Lakes Alive will feature some of the world’s best outdoor performers, bringing a taste of the Edinburgh fringe festival to the Lake District’s towns and villages.

The summer season of arts events will start with a spectacular show on the shores of Lake Windermere in June and culminate in Kendal, where more than 150 artists will be performing over three days at the Mintfest international street arts festival.

Kendal Arts International is organising this ambitious summer season. Julie Tait, from Kendal Arts International, says: “After the huge success of the inaugural Mintfest 2007, a lot of people told us that they would like to see similar events held around the Lake District.

“Most cultural events in Cumbria take place indoors. Lakes Alive will enable large numbers of people to enjoy some really stunning and exciting performances in the great outdoors, set against a backdrop of lakes and mountains.”

The Lakes Alive season is being supported by a number of organisations, including the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).

It will open on the 14th of June with a free breathtaking performance, the WOW Factor, the finale of the Windermere on the Water festival (WOW).

Internationally-acclaimed French performers Transe Express will provide an uplifting experience as they take to the air in an extraordinary human mobile. The evening will finish with a thrilling fireworks display by pyrotechnic geniuses Walk-the-Plank, who helped start Liverpool’s year as Capital of Culture with a bang.

In August Swiss circus company, Nicole et Martin, will be touring Ambleside, Ulverston and Kendal. The duo, who won the prestigious Tapwater Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006, use music, storytelling and simple props to re-tell traditional fairy stories from central Europe including ‘Hansel & Gretel’, ‘The Bremen Town Musicians’ and the ‘Fisherman and his Wife’.

Also in August, all the fun and amazing skills of an African circus will come to the Lakeland villages of Grasmere and Hawkshead as part of a new street arts roadshow. Bani Obashwe’s performances include the bamboo pole, in which a young acrobat climbs up to 12 metres above the ground and changes from a young sportswoman into an African Queen.

Lakes Alive will come to a dazzling conclusion with the three day Mintfest street arts festival in Kendal from 29 to 31 August. Like last year’s successful pilot event, this will include a packed line up of top acts from all over the world performing at usual and unusual locations across the Town.

Mintfest’s grand opening will include a performance by Dutch entertainers Tuig who use fire, air and water to spectacular effect as a man is slowly raised 14 metres above the ground before making a breathtaking jump.

Over the next two days every corner of Kendal will come alive with comedians, acrobats, jugglers and musicians.

The highlights will include a giant pig in Abbott Hall Park. The show by the Whalley Range All Stars features a 30’ long sleeping sow snuffling and snoring in a pen. A farm-hand offers the public the opportunity to act like pigs and take a peek at a 10 minute long show that takes place inside her belly.

Other acts confirmed so far include performers from across the UK as well as Finland, the United States, France, and Germany.

More information on the Lakes Alive season will be available at Lakesalive.org towards the end of April. Details on Mintfest can be found at Mintfest.org.