Bristol Harbour Festival 2009
Wednesday, 3rd June 2009
This summer, Bristol will host its annual music and arts festival, the Bristol Harbour Festival - one of the largest free events in the UK. Bringing together local talent and internationally-acclaimed performers, this spectacular event will run from 31st July to 2nd August 2009.
Now in its 38th year and having attracted 230,000 visitors in 2008, Bristol City Council’s annual festival rivals the UK’s most popular summer events. With the backdrop of the city’s historic harbour and hundreds of boats moored for the weekend, it offers entertainment across eight stages with an eclectic range of music, a dedicated children’s festival, youth area featuring BBC Blast, circus and dance stages and rounded off with a stunning fireworks display creating an exciting festival atmosphere in the heart of the city.
Music
The collection of world music covers every genre including soul, blues, reggae, funk, rock and big band, performing on five music stages throughout the harbour. The city centre locations include a huge stage in Bristol’s purpose built amphitheatre on the harbour side, a stage in the stunning Georgian Queen Square supported by Bristol’s leading music venue Colston Hall and an acoustic stage with the city and harbour backdrop of Cascade Steps.
The festival is renowned for its mixture of established artists and up and coming musicians, offering visitors the chance to see the next big thing for free.
Dance
The festival’s dance village situated on the harbourside hosts performances from national and international acts, featuring every type of dance from ballet to break-dance, bollywood to ballroom, modern to contemporary.
This year special guests include the American Dance Theatre and the Netherlands Dance Theatre. Principal dancers from the American Ballet Theatre will perform Twyla Tharp’s world famous ‘Sinatra Suite’, a ballroom style performance originally created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and performed across the globe.
This will be the first opportunity to see the Netherlands Dance Theatre and the American Ballet Theatre outside of London’s dance venues, free of charge and in such a unique setting as Bristol’s harbour side.
Circus
The ever popular circus stage will offer two days filled with astounding and entertaining acts from the UK’s two leading circus schools – Bristol based Circomedia and London based Circus Space, programmed by one of Europe’s most creative and diverse circus programmers Cirque Bijou.
As one of the largest collections of circus and street theatre performances seen in the UK, a full circus stage will be created in the contemporary modern space of Millennium Square. Visitors will enjoy awe inspiring aerial and static trapeze performers, entertaining juggling, acrobatics and hoop artists, and stunning silks displays. The circus stage is popular with young and old, and audience participation is a must!
Youth area
This year, a new youth focused area created to encompass music, urban dance, graffiti art and parkour will offer another dimension to the event. With urban sports and arts under the city’s Project 360 banner and Bristol’s youth music project Remix offering young artists the opportunity to perform at the festival, the area will be buzzing with new talent. BBC Blast will be present to encourage 13 to 19 year olds to get creative in the world of art, fashion, music, games, writing, film and dance.
Family
Families can enjoy the festival with children of all ages with a dedicated children’s element to the festival, created by the team behind Shambala festival, kids will be entertained for hours with puppet making, face painting and music workshops set in the beautiful Queen Square.
Find out more about the Bristol Harbour Festival 2009.
