THE streets of Hull will become rivers of fire as this year's Freedom Festival promises to be the most spectacular yet.
A huge parade of 600 torchbearers is set to snake through the streets of Hull on Friday, September 6, marking the start of this year's Freedom Festival with a stunning procession of fire.
The torch-lit parade is one of two major set-piece events announced today by the organisers of Freedom Festival 2013, who are aiming to maintain the festival's position as one of Yorkshire biggest free cultural events.
Nick Clarke, of Salford-based events company Walk The Plank, which is planning this year's Freedom programme, said the procession would be a "dazzling" way to launch this year's festivities.
He said: "There's something really special about a torch-lit procession. When you have hundreds of people, all carrying naked flames in vast long parade, it looks absolutely magical and symbolic.
"We're looking for up to 600 participants from all parts of Hull's community to get involved and to carry the torches.
"We want this to be the launch event that brings everyone together and really puts a smile on everyone's face for the rest of the weekend."
The parade is set to start in Queen Victoria Square before winding its way past the William Wilberforce statue and heading down to the Fruit Market and Marina areas, which will again be the epicentre of this year's Freedom activities.
To mark its 50th anniversary, a reading of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech will be given beneath the Wilberforce statue, before more of a party atmosphere kicks in at the Pier Street stage, where BBC 6 Music DJ and Coronation Street star Craig Charles will be hosting a live version of his funk and soul show into the wee hours.
The £400,000 budget event is under the leadership of a new Freedom board, which replaced last year's festival directors, Edinburgh-based company Unique, with newcomers Walk The Plank.
Walk The Plank recently returned from the current UK City of Culture, Derry, in Northern Ireland, where their landmark event the Return of Colmcille saw a citywide parade in which the city's patron saint, Columba, fought a giant Loch Ness Monster on the River Foyle.
Shona McCarthy, chief executive of Derry's Culture Company 2013, last week described the Salford company's work as "brilliant" and "mightily impressive".
As well as the procession, Freedom Festival will also welcome back internationally-renowned French street theatre group Transe Express.
The group last appeared at the Freedom Festival in 2010 when they wowed audiences by hanging from a giant mobile in Queen Victoria Square while playing drums.
The group's latest show, Les Tambours de la Muerte, will be a UK exclusive when they appear in Hull on Saturday, September 7.
The show's title translates as The Drums Of Death and is loosely based on a Mexican Day Of The Dead festival.
The Transe Express troupe will also wander the city streets with their show, from Queen Victoria Square to the Fruit Market, pounding their carnival-style drums as they go.
Mr Clarke said: "Transe Express are absolute pioneers of modern street theatre and you already know in Hull just how spectacular one of their shows is.
"Their new production, Les Tambours de la Muerte, is based on an old Mexican festival of the dead and looks set to be very exciting. It's great that we are able to have a UK premiere of such quality here in Hull."
Coming on the back of the announcement that Hull has made the final four in the race to become the UK's City Of Culture in 2017, the success of this year's Freedom Festival could be more important than ever, said Professor Graham Chesters, chairman of the Freedom board.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the judges for the City Of Culture bid visited Hull during Freedom Festival weekend," he said.
"So, no pressure there then," he laughs. "But what it does show is that it's more important than ever that we make this year a success and that it gets as much support as possible from the people of Hull.
"If we can show the judges that Freedom is a success, it could be our equivalent of Deano's goal at Wembley and all the success that brings."
Prof Chester added that, with all the changes behind the scenes at Freedom Festival, the new board could have done with "an extra three or four months" but said that having less time to put plans into motion had helped "focus minds".
"You could always do with more time," he says. "But I think we're on the right track and everything's slowly coming together.
"This year, we wanted to recognise the roots of the Freedom Festival.
"Although the festival has been brilliant in recent years, we felt there has been a slight distancing from the original idea of celebrating Wilberforce and the whole concept of Freedom and independence of thought.
"We were also determined to keep the idea of Freedom being a street festival – a largely a free street festival. That's what we're aiming for."
Freedom Festival 2013 runs from Friday, September 6, to Sunday, September 8. Visit www.freedomfestival.co.uk for more details.
