Great Yarmouth's circus-themed Out There festival has been launched with the promise that it will be the biggest and most spectacular yet.
More than 20 street art companies and 30 different shows have been lined up for the fourth edition of the free festival over the weekend of September 17 and 18.
Artists will be coming from as far afield as France, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia for the event, which will focus on St George's Park but also take in other parts of the town, including the Market Place and seafront.
A festival highlight will be a spectacular stage show by the No Fit State Circus, beginning on the seafront at 7pm on the Saturday.
The show, which will be followed by a fireworks display, combines acrobatics, tightrope walking and aerial acts with inspiring live music.
The same evening, Marine Parade will be transformed into a street party with visitors invited to join in traditional Breton circle dancing, taste crepes and listen to a French street band. The crowds over the weekend,again predicted to exceed 60,000 people, will also be entertained by a range of other zany acts.
Regional dance company Tilted Productions will perform their inventive show Seasaw around Britannia Pier; Les Trois Points de Suspension will perform on bouncy stilts; Hocus Pocus theatre company will introduce people to their sideshow of curiosities; and Cirqulation Locale will combine juggling, trampoline acrobatics, street theatre and slapstick.
Other visitors will include Celtic dance group Eostiqed Ar Stangala, Berlin clown Gregor Wollny and Mario, an expert in circus artistry and comedy.
Local charity SeaChange Arts will again be putting on the festival with the help of EU funding as part of its commitment to Zepa, a Europe-wide arts group putting on events across the EU.
Artistic director Joe Mackintosh said: 'More than �100,000 is being put into the festival; people have high expectations of us now and it's important that this year's Out There is the biggest and most spectacular yet.
'We have been getting a lot of interest from further afield and Out There is now seen as one of the key, pivotal street arts events of the year, certainly one of the top six festival like it in the UK.'
He said festival fans had been booking stays at local guesthouses from as early as February; last year's event saw 60pc of visitors come from outside the borough.
For more about Out There visit outherefestival.com
stephen.pullinger@archant.co.uk
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