Spectacular, quirky and breathtaking international performances will take place along Great Yarmouth seafront in this year's Out There Festival, with the help of a £70,000 grant.
Some of the world's best circus and street arts performers will take shows and acts to the heart of the Golden Mile to spread the entertainment for more visitors to enjoy and for seafront businesses to benefit from the unique three-day celebration of the weird and wonderful.
After-dark pyrotechnics, projections, a music stage and promenade theatre are just some of the acts planned for the new Upfront programme at two sites around Trafalgar Square and Trafalgar Road, and at the Sea Life Centre Gardens in September.
The new sites will be funded with a £70,000 grant from the Arts Council England's Grants for the Arts programme, secured by the Great Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area (GYTABIA).
The GYTABIA will match-fund the grant with another £10,000, making an £80,000 boost for the popular Out There Festival event, and work in partnership with organisers SeaChange Arts.
The GYTABIA applied for the grant to help spread festival action from its St George's Park base to the seafront to help restaurants, attractions, cafés and pubs benefit from the thousands of visitors enticed into Great Yarmouth by the eccentric acts.
Cafés, pubs and restaurants will be encouraged to expand alfresco to join in with the festival spirit.
The open performance sites will be transformed into 'visually stunning and welcoming environments' by decoration, signage and seating.
Already confirmed for the seafront programme are Southpaw Dance's Carousel, an 'enthralling tale of the fairground after dark'.
SeaChange Arts's Darren Cross said: 'We are hoping traders will engage with the festival and we will be involving restaurants and cafés, encouraging them to spill out into the street to be part of the festival. This is great opportunity for them to benefit too.'
• The Out There Festival runs from September 16 to Sunday, September 18. For programme details visit www.outtherefestival.com
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