The streets of Coventry are set to come alive this summer as part of a dynamic new outdoor arts festival.
Imagineer Productions, renowned for their spectacular outdoor arts and inclusive engagement programmes, is set to launch their latest project, the ‘Streets of Cov.’ This vibrant festival will bring free pop-up performances of circus, dance, music, theatre, and water-based pyrotechnics to the streets of Coventry.
The six-week festival will run on Fridays and Saturdays from August 16th to September 21st and feature world-class local, national and international acts including the award-winning Cia Kamchàtka, Stopgap, Highly Sprung, Gobbledegook Theatre, Avanti Display and Motionhouse, and comedy from Fraser Hooper and Abi Collins.
Performances will be held in iconic locations across the city including Broadgate, Coventry Cathedral, the Canal Basin, London Road Cemetery, St Mary’s Guildhall and Lower Precinct.
The family-friendly festival is being presented in partnership with Coventry City Council, and aims to offer a diverse and captivating programme to bring the community together, ignite joy and inspire creativity. The Heart of England Community Foundation is a proud supporter of this event, having donated a £36,239 sum to Imagineer Productions to help make the festival possible.
Angus MacKechnie, Creative Director and CEO of Imagineer Productions, said:
“We are extremely excited to announce the Streets of Cov festival.
“The event will feature top local, national and international outdoor arts companies, including many performers from Coventry and the West Midlands, offering a thrilling blend of circus, dance, storytelling and visual spectacles.
“Audiences will be able to dive into a wild adventure of breath-taking acrobatics and dance, see a tiny painting come to life, watch hilarious comedy acts, marvel at a circus made entirely from bamboo and even meet a six-metre tall slinky!
“Our goal is to engage the local community by providing free, high-quality arts experiences that are accessible to everyone, and elevate Coventry’s status as a leading hub for outdoor arts. No tickets are needed, people can just come along and enjoy.
“We would like to thank Heart of England Community Foundation for its significant contribution towards the event as well as a range of other partners who are supporting us in a range of ways.
“With a variety of entertainment on offer, including the award-winning Cia Kamchàtka from Spain, Streets of Cov is the perfect event for families and individuals looking for an unforgettable experience.”
Tina Costello OBE, Chief Executive of the Heart of England Community Foundation, said:
“It is fantastic to be supporting an event which is so heavily focused on arts and culture – something which is so deeply rooted in Coventry.
“We believe that everyone should have an equal right to opportunities to experience arts and culture, and Streets of Cov will provide everyone with the chance to see live performances taking place in easily-accessible spaces.
“We are very proud to be named as one of the key sponsors and can’t wait for the festival to begin.”
Streets of Cov is part of Without Walls, a network of organisations bringing innovative outdoor arts to towns and cities across England.
Further information about the event, including the full programme of performances, can be found at https://imagineer-productions.co.uk/prods/
Pictured: Tina Costello OBE with Angus MacKechnie
Full event details
Fri 16 Aug
Frock – Stopgap
Cathedral Ruins 1pm & 4pm (25 mins)
Six virtuosic dancers from the renowned integrated dance company joyously celebrate difference and identity in a tour de force performance. Frocks, suits and teacups collide in a celebration of love, relationships and fluidity… to an original punk soundtrack.
The Spurting Man – Avanti Display
Broadgate 1.30pm & 5.15pm (20 mins)
Get ready for soggy laughs and inventive absurdity. Meet the infamous and pompous speciality act ‘Spurting Man’ and his undervalued, downtrodden assistant; culminating in a waterlogged finale when he is crowned and, atop his pedestal, cascades fountains of water as he becomes a human fountain.
Sat 17 Aug
WILD – Motionhouse
Broadgate: 1pm & 5.15pm (45 mins)
Dive into a wild adventure with a breathtaking mix of acrobatics and dance; through extraordinary physical skills, Motionhouse explores our relationship with nature, the urban jungle and our mobile phones. A breathtaking must-see!
Fri 23 Aug
Kamchàtka – Cia Kamchàtka
Broadgate (start) 12.30pm (45 mins walkabout)
Friargate, nr Cov Station (start) 4pm (45 mins walkabout)
We look forward to introducing Cov to Kamchàtka – eight mysterious visitors who arrive with just their suitcases and an insatiable curiosity. Never the same show twice, this interactive company inspire and challenge our perceptions about how we welcome strangers.
Funny Business – Fraser Hooper
St Mary’s Guildhall 1.15pm (30 mins, limited capacity) | Lower Precinct 5pm (30 mins)
Guaranteed giggles galore from internationally award-winning funnyman; featuring a stunt duck, a human fish, eccentric dancing and the silliest boxing match you have ever seen. Get a ringside seat for a belly-aching knockout performance.
Sat 24 Aug
Kamchàtka – Cia Kamchàtka
Belgrade Plaza (start): 12pm (45 mins walkabout) | Cathedral Ruins (start) 4pm (45 mins walkabout)
The Abi Collins Experience – Abi Collins
St Mary’s Guildhall: 1.15pm (30 mins, limited capacity) | Lower Precinct: 5pm (30 mins)
From multiple hula hoops and cocktails served on her head to bad magic routines and a version of Swan Lake danced on traffic cones, Abi has done it all. But she still hasn’t found what she’s looking for. After all, no woman is an island…
Fri 30 Aug
Mughul Miniatures: The Princess and the Peacock – Sonia Sabri Dance
St Mary’s Guildhall 12:00pm, 1:30pm & 3:00pm (15 mins, limited capacity)
Celebrate the splendour of Mughal art as miniature paintings come to life and meet a majestic peacock and a prim princess in the Guildhall courtyard. If you’re very lucky, you’ll get to see the peacock and the princess dance together!
CastAway – Highly Sprung
Broadgate 1pm & 5pm (25 mins)
A visually arresting, energetic aerial performance exploring our difficult relationship with our environment; drowning under a crushing mass of plastic, the Keeper of the Waterways awakens and rises up. It’s time for change.
Sat 31 Aug
The Other Side – Ascension Dance
Broadgate 1.15pm & 5.15pm (30 mins)
A highly physical performance about bridging differences and divides. The performers discover that the only way to succeed will be by finding a way to work together, support each other, and lift one another up; inspired by parkour and freerunning, a thrilling blend of dance and acrobatics that flips expectations.
The Whale – Talking Birds
Broadgate 12pm-3pm & 4pm-6pm (5 mins per show)
Step (or wheel) inside the mouth of a giant tin whale and embark on an underwater adventure; a magical, interactive storytelling experience that’s engaging for the whole family.
Fri 6 Sep
Parade: The Giant Wheel – Autin Dance Theatre
Precinct Fountain up to Broadgate 1pm & 5pm (50 mins)
Join a vibrant parade with a towering giant wheel; a lively, colourful spectacle rolls its way through the city centre celebrating community and creativity and the power and impact of people coming together.
Sat 7 Sep
Roll Play – Simple Cypher
Broadgate 1.15pm (25 mins) | Lower Precinct 5.15pm (25 mins)
Three performers blur the boundaries between hip hop dance and circus cyr wheeling. This series of playful interactions will inspire and amaze audiences of all ages. Featuring feel-good choreography, a few smiles and storytelling.
International Man of Artistry – Jon Hicks
Lower Precinct 1:30pm (15 mins) | Broadgate 5:30pm (15 mins)
Prepare to be amazed by the fastest paintbrush in the West (Midlands); a messy, splattered collision between Jackson Pollock, Buster Keaton and Andy Warhol, with a bit of rockabilly styling for good measure. Beyond painting… beyond painting by numbers.
Fri 13 Sep
The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band
Broadgate 1.15pm (40 mins) | Broadgate > Cathedral 5pm (30 mins)
The living embodiment of Rajasthan – the land of royalty – and a spectacular celebration of Jaipur’s vibrant and colourful lifestyle with a quirky repertoire spanning Rajasthani folk, Bollywood hits, spiritual qawwali, Bhangra beats, Sci-Fi theme tunes, intergalactic funk and perhaps a bit of pop.
Those in Glass Houses – Matt Pang & Owen Reynolds
Cathedral Ruins 5.30pm (30 mins)
A celebration of glass and all its fragilities with a giant pendulum, a ton of bricks, a load of juggling and protective eyewear; brace yourself for swinging bricks, comedic catapults and a glass-shattering domino run in an adventure of controlled destruction.
Sat 14 Sep
Cloudscapes – Gobbledegook Theatre
London Road Cemetery 11pm-4pm (each visit lasts about 25 mins)
An intimate installation combining clouds and words in an outdoor cloud-gazing area; lie back, look up and contemplate the mutability of clouds, as well as the mutability of humanity, guided by the soothing voice of performer and creator Lorna Rees. Just turn up, no booking required.
Black Victorians – Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates
Cathedral Ruins 1pm & 5pm (25 mins)
Black Victorians looks at the complex and often forgotten Black presence in pre-Windrush Britain; a powerful dance performance that celebrates previously hidden figures and questions both old and new perceptions.
Fri 20 Sep
BAMBOO – NoFit State Circus
Delia Derbyshire Building Forecourt 1.15pm & 5.15pm (45 mins)
A spectacular high-impact, high-skill outdoor circus production using only bamboo and human bodies – revealing the fragility and beauty of our interconnected and interdependent life on this planet. The artists build towering bamboo sculptures which morph, transform and become an improbable, delicate circus playground.
Sat 21 Sep
Slinkie Love – Bedlam Oz
St Mary’s Guildhall 12pm | Broadgate 2pm | Canal Basin 3.45pm | The Powerhouse 5.45pm
Stretching to 6 metres high, twisting and curling into a ball, meet two playful and eye-catching slinkies and witness this charming story of two springy creatures gently falling in love.
BAMBOO – NoFit State Circus
Canal Basin 12:30pm & 4pm (45 mins)
Unboxed – Linden Dance
Broadgate 1:30pm (20 mins) | The Powerhouse 5pm (20 mins)
Two dancers set themselves in opposition to two giant wooden cubes in a battle with prejudice and judgment; the toxicity reverberates in the pulsing soundtrack and athletic physicality which draws on Afro-fusion and Contemporary movement styles.
Notes to editors:
- Streets of Cov is supported by the Heart of England Community Foundation
- Streets of Cov is part of Without Walls, a network of organisations bringing innovative outdoor arts to towns and cities across England
- Presented in partnership with Coventry City Council
- Streets of Cov venue partners: Coventry City Council | Coventry Cathedral | St Mary’s Guildhall | Lower Precinct | Coventry University | Historic Coventry Trust | Belgrade Theatre
- Streets of Cov Performance sponsors: The Spurting Man is supported by Severn Trent Water | WILD is supported by mCreat
- Streets of Cov Marketing Support: Coventry BID
- Imagineer Productions is supported by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation