Warrington Arts Festival returns with nine days of spectacular family fun

Warrington Arts Festival is back, bringing with it nine days of vibrant, accessible and community-focused events.

Hosted by Culture Warrington, this year’s festival runs from Fri 19 Jul – Sat 27 Jul and features an ambitious series of performances and installations across a variety of the town’s venues and pop-up spaces.

Highlights include a Family Garden Party at Queens Gardens packed with live music, performances and hands-on activities, including  Everywhere’s A Beach, a circus theatre show that takes place on a revolving parasol, the stilt-walking Birds of Paradise and exciting entertainment hosted within a giant golden Birdcage Stage.

Elsewhere, Gorilla Circus’s large-scale aerial spectacular Unity takes over Bank Park, complete with wire walking, dance trapeze, hair hanging and hydraulics.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival prize-winners, Hong Kong’s TS Crew, will performant No Dragon, No Lion — a combination of classical lion dance, Chinese opera, pulse-pounding beats and martial arts.

For the little ones, Move Mancchester’s dance performance Lilo Lost It explores identity and acceptance, while Golden Square’s Sky Garden welcomes Gobbledook Theatre.

A host of Warrington creatives will also be unveiling new work after receiving funding and support as part of the festival’s development.

Artist Leanne Van will create colourful mural portraits inspired by Warrington’s communities, Amy Nic will develop her work-in-progress The Business of Love in collaboration with women from the area, and Hayley Reid will bring history to life with an imaginative programme of activities dedicated to Warrington’s Old Billy – the longest living horse on record.

Lauren Banks, Programme Producer, said: “’I’m really excited to relaunch Warrington Arts Festival this summer, taking over nine days across 10 locations in the town centre.

“We’re grateful to the thousands of people who have chatted, consulted and shared their ideas with us over the past five months to help make this happen.

“With increased activity taking place outdoors and in public spaces, we’re hoping this year more people will be able to engage with and enjoy the festival than ever before.”

For more information, the full lineup and tickets, head to the Warrington Arts Festival website here.