Quality street! Top acts get ready to hit the Streetfest
Ashbourne Festival’s TIM CHALLANS outlines the summer event’s hugely popular curtain-raiser, Streetfest this week POPULAR WARDENS RETURN FOR WEEKEND OF FREE ENTERTAINMENT
THE event everybody looks forward to in the Ashbourne festival is Streetfest.
After a rather downbeat version last year, we are back to a full weekend of high quality street entertainers on June 18 and 19.
As the world has opened up we are able to offer a truly international cast of clowns, jugglers and contortionists.
Leading this group of performers, and causing disruption to the weekend traffic, will be the Streetfest favourites, The Wardens. No one is safe from their attention, and they will enforce any law that they can make up – breathing too loudly, walking on the cracks in the pavements or wearing a loud shirt in public can all get you a ticket.
Another popular act returning to Ashbourne from Canada is Dado, whose subtle and highly skilled physical comedy has delighted audiences around the world, including our town.
Another Canadian visitor is Byron Bertram, a veteran busker, and Victor Rubilar has won awards around the world and broken Guinness records with his amazing, jaw dropping football tricks.
From Portugal we have Pedro Tochas, The Sculptor Clown, a master of crowd interaction who builds silent movies before your eyes. Fanzini Ballet Poulet from Ireland, two world class Olympian-level idiots, will bring you their latest masterpiece. She will prepare a delicate, poetic ballet and he will disrupt it.
Sarah Twister is an archer, contortionist and professional attention seeker, a combination that you do not see every day. She promises to literally bend over backwards for your entertainment (and fire arrows).
Fraser Hooper, stunt duck, human fish and eccentric dancer will be visiting us on his European tour of festivals and street events.
Pete Anderson with his ‘Unstable Acts’ is a Rubik’s Cube solving knife master. His signature move is scaling a 10ft high freestanding ladder, backwards and in a kilt. What could go wrong?
Able Mabel is a world class entertainer who combines juggling, escapology and popping a balloon with a whip – don’t ask.
Please do not miss this, you’ll love it, and on Sunday it will make a great Father’s Day outing.
Another popular free event at the end of the festival is Picnic in the Park on July 3. Pack your sandwiches, grab a blanket and join us for a relaxed afternoon in the sunshine (hopefully). The musical entertainment throughout the afternoon will be from the super Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra.
Details of all these free events and others are in the Ashbourne Festival brochure, on posters around the area, on the festival website, social media and in more articles coming soon. Tickets are on sale for other festival performances, and full information and links to buy tickets are on the festival website www. ashbournefestival.org.