NEWS: STOCKTON INTERNATIONAL RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL

SIRF, Stockton’s free celebration of outdoor art and street theatre returns to the Teesside town from Thursday 4^th-Sunday 7^th August. The family favourite has much to enjoy for all ages, with a host of unusual and interesting diversions.

Installations and events are myriad, with many looking to provoke discourse around global issues as well as entertain. The Rivers of the World installation saw pupils from local schools work alongside artists Rachel Laycock and Emma Wheetman from BloomInArts to interpret the River Tees and explore global and local issues alongside a partner school in Lebanon; in Harmonic Fields, Pierre Sauvageot presents a ‘wind symphony’ of 500 instruments, from harmonic cellos and vibrating drums to bamboo whistles and gyratory music boxes, which reveals unexpected musical compositions using the power of the wind; storytellers Daniel Bye and Aidan Moesby’s installation C’Mon In, The Water’s Lovely is set in an Antarctic research station and investigates the contradictions often at the heart of environmentalism; Safekeeping is an immersive audio experience featuring original music by composer and multi-instrumentalist Holly Khan; 0AR includes a collection of short dance works in augmented reality; local company Whippet Up tell tales inspired by local folklore in For The People, By The People; interactive spectacle FLOOD uses circus, music and acrobatics to understand the challenges faced by our coastlines; Joli Vyann’s unique dance, circus and theatre piece, Timeless, takes place on a seven-metre high rotating hourglass, exploring the fragility of time and nature; while the poetic Mayfly is a spectacular fusion of water, dance and song which expresses the transformative strength of women.

In addition, there’s family activities at the Tees Barrage to mark the Canal & River Trust’s 10^th anniversary; colourful displays of aerialists and acrobatics; and travelling Indian street market The Grand Indian Bazaar will present a vibrant and colourful extravaganza of intrigue, feats of daring, music and surprise.

SIRF takes place in Stockton from Thursday 4^th-Sunday 7^th August.