SPECTACULAR waterfront fire shows, gravity-defying parkour and a ballet using shopping trolleys are just some of the latest additions to Hull's 2014 Freedom Festival line-up.
A second wave of acts has been announced to light up the city's streets during the three-day festival, which will run from September 5 to 7.
Among the highlights is a dazzling fire and light show, Spellbound, which will recreate the epic Indian love story the Ramayana, starting with a lantern-lit procession through the Fruit Market and ending with a pyrotechnic-laden finale on Hull Marina waterfront.
Other acts announced include a Indo-Caribbean dance spectacular, called Chutney In The Street, top BMX skills from international rider Keelan Phillips, award-winning Parkour ensemble Urban Playground and the C-12 Dance Theatre's Trolleys – a comic ballet using shopping trolleys.
Liz Pugh, of festival directors Walk The Plank, said this year's Freedom Festival aimed to put as much spectacle out in the open as possible. She said: "As an outdoor festival set in a remarkable location, it's key that we reveal, enhance and open up the space we have available with hugely entertaining, often ground-breaking performance that blurs the edges between theatre, dance and in some cases sport.
"Work like this helps us to bring performances to new audiences.
"You might think 'that's not for me' but then you stumble across something fascinating and it opens the rest of the festival for you.
"Saturday night promises to be really special – anyone who has seen Spellbound perform at other festivals will know what is in store. It really is not to be missed."
Other highlights for the festival include an appearance by Delinus-03, the smallest taxi-van in the world, which will take passengers on "a magical mystery tour", a digital funfair, The Abstract hip hop big band orchestra and northern soul DJ Keb Darge.
On the comedy front, copper-turned-comic Alfie Moore will join funnyman and former criminal Sam Harland for a late night of fun from both sides of the law on Friday.
Graham Chesters, Freedom Festival board chairman, said: "This second programme announcement really outlines the breadth of talent and entertainment on offer, with the 'day to dusk' transformation of Humber Street in particular underlining how the event allows visitors to seek out the Freedom Festival experience that suits them.
"We were thrilled to welcome more than 80,000 people to the festival last year and hope more new visitors will come to enjoy our event, in its fantastic, unique location."
Councillor Terry Geraghty, portfolio holder for Leisure and Culture, said: "There's been lots of talk of our city gaining a 'new lease of life' culturally, following our successful UK City of Culture bid. Freedom Festival always brings Hull to life, with quirky, entertaining surprises popping up throughout the city, and we're very proud to been the main contributor supporting the event again in its seventh year."Acts booked for this year's Freedom Festival include ...Spellbound Outdoor spectacular Spellbound, produced by Walk the Plank, is inspired by one of the great ancient epics of India, Ramayana. The tale of love, loyalty and friendship is told through shadow play, traditional Indian dance, music and spectacular special effects, incorporating a magical procession of dancers and drummers and a stunning sea of lanterns made by the local community. The procession will snake its way through the city's Fruit Market, where audiences can expect dazzling pyro punctuation and a spectacular fiery finale in the form of large scale fire-drawings – giving visitors the chance to experience storytelling in a whole new light. Chutney in the Street Chutney in the Street is a love story performed in a 30-minute street performance, with songs inspired by music of the Indo-Carribbean communities of Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname. Created by composer Kuljit Bhamra, a pioneer of Bhangra music, Chutney has a strong participation element – the story's main character tries to win the love of a princess by dancing and teaching the villagers (the audience) to dance! Chutney will appear at Freedom Festival via the Without Walls Associate Touring Network, a consortium of nine festivals based across England that Freedom is now a part of, bringing top performers to the streets of Hull.Keelan Phillips - BMX Flatland BMX star Keelan Phillips uses his jaw-dropping levels of skill on a bike to create a whole new language of movement. Merging the worlds of sport and art, Keelan's stunning 'BMX Ballet' was a YouTube hit and he has invented more than ten of his own moves on the bike. Keelan has been named UK and European champion several times over and brings this unique performance to Freedom Festival audiences for the very first time.Urban Playground – The Inner City Award-winning ensemble Urban Playground combine Parkour – the practice of moving between locations using only the momentum of the human body and its surroundings - with urban and contemporary dance, creating a unique language known as 'Performance Parkour'. Described by the BBC as "extreme sport and cutting edge theatre… free-running as you've never seen it before", they'll bring their latest show The Inner City to Freedom Festival. The Inner City portrays the fortunes of a group of city workers in slapstick, comedic choreography for the whole family that will excite adrenaline junkies and dance enthusiasts alike. C-12 Dance Theatre's Trolleys Part ballet and part outdoor spectacle, Trolleys is a new ballet for five supermarket trolleys. This award-winning outdoor performance merges high-octane contemporary dance, acrobatics and street dance – and has to be seen to be believed! Trolleys joins Chutney in the Street and Acrojou's The Wheel House, two actors/acrobats telling a story inside a giant wheel, as part of the Without Walls Associate Touring Network. Delinus-03 Freedom Festival's reputation for surprising visitors at every turn with quirky pop-up street theatre is set to be strengthened with the likes of Delinus-03, the smallest Taxi-Van in the world, direct from The Netherlands. Every seat of the Dutch Delinus must be filled before setting off for a magical mystery tour! Sam Harland meets Alfie Moore (Friday late night comedy) Hull-born comedian and ex-criminal Sam Harland joins Lincolnshire ex-copper Alfie Moore in this comedic double header from both sides of the law. Sam used comedy to turn his life around after years of petty crime, drug addiction and rehab. He regales tales from his past in this award-winning act, performed with sharp wit and a cynical - yet optimistic - slant. Sergeant turned stand-up Alfie, who has a new comedy series on BBC Radio 4 this summer, will be providing Freedom Festival audiences with his hilarious, thought-provoking insight into life in the police force -"a strikingly original and welcome show" (Daily Telegraph). Acclaimed Yorkshire comic Scott Bennett will compere the evening.Halo by Flame Oz Performed by four virtuoso circus artists, Halo is an explosive visual display featuring super-bright LED hula hoops, juggling clubs and the use of unique technology to create words, patterns and images that light up darkened spaces in a kaleidoscope of glow in the dark colour. The quartet of Halo performers features the UK's top hula hoop duo plus two internationally recognised jugglers, bringing flair, skills and slick choreography for a truly breath-taking show.Dominic Berry Leading performance poet Dominic Berry has appeared on CBeebies and Channel 4 and won New York's prestigious Nuyorican Poetry Café Slam. The over-5s and their parents will love his trio of stories The Dragon who Hates Poetry, Spark, the Goblin Wizard plus the premiere of When a Troll Tries to Eat Your Goldfish!The Digital Funfair One of the most imaginative and eccentric shows to have appeared at Freedom Festival, The Digital Funfair is a travelling collection of interactive installations which fuses popular culture, technology with the thrill of the fairground. Featuring, amongst other things, a Virtual Coconut Shy, semi-automatic DJ-ing table The Beat Jigsaw and Smackbottoms, described as the world's only mannequin-based guitar hero game, The Digital Funfair is a space for kids – and big kids - to experience pure unadulterated fun.The Abstract Orchestra 16-piece The Abstract Orchestra perform live hip-hop with a Big Band punch, and have recorded and toured with huge names including Mark Ronson, Jamiroquai, Candi Staton and Amy Winehouse. Continuing the live hip-hop culture established by the first Sugarhill Records hits of the early 1980s, the band - led by saxophonist Rob Mitchell – mix exceptional arrangements with incredible rap vocals for an amazing live experience.A Dread Supreme With roots in Jamaican music and British and American Jazz, A Dread Supreme aim to break down musical barriers and defy being labelled. Their spirited performances have thrilled audiences throughout the UK and further afield; they'll take to Freedom Festival's Yellow Bus Stage on Saturday afternoon. DJ Keb Darge Arguably the most well-known and highly regarded Northern Soul and Funk DJ, Keb Darge has been on the scene since the 1970s. He promises to get Saturday night audiences spinning and shuffling with a selection of gems from his incomparable collection of rare 45s.
For more details, visit freedomfestival.co.uk
