Durham City Vision
Playtime on the Streets of Durham
19th August, 2008
Durham City will play host to the very best international street performers this Saturday (August 23).
Streets of Play: Durham International Buskers Festival promises to amaze, amuse and entertain with its formidable line up of global busking talent.
Performers from as far-afield as Portugal, The Virgin Islands, Australia and USA will entertain against the stunning backdrops provided by Durham’s winding streets and towering World Heritage Site.
Now in its second year, Streets of Play is the fourth in the series of spectacular Streets of… festivals that have taken the historic City by storm this summer.
The Streets series has been coordinated by Durham City Vision. Kate James, Events Coordinator at the regeneration partnership, said: “Durham is incredibly fortunate to have performers of this quality in the City and we are continuing to build a reputation for hosting world class events. The atmosphere will be terrific and it really will be fun for all the family.
“Busking is also one of the fairest and most inclusive art forms as anyone and everyone can enjoy the shows. When buskers pass round their hats, it is then up to the audience to judge how much they feel the performance was worth.”
The main performance areas will be Millennium Place, Market Place, Walkergate and Elvet bridge. This year's line up includes:
Great Scott (Australia) - back by popular demand! This comedy juggler creates an electric atmosphere as he builds towards his finale which sees him climb on top of a rolling tube on top of a champagne glass tower.
Fluid Druid (Virgin Islands) - a master of the beautiful new circus art form 'contact juggling'. Using incredible levels of skill the Fluid Druid manipulates glass orbs which deftly slide, float, dance and glide around his arms and body.
A.J. James (UK) - a true master of the 'deadly art of crowd pleasing'. A stunt double, martial arts expert, international gymnast and 'extreme' acrobat.
George Fuller (USA) - one of the finest slack rope walkers working today, George creates his show out of a piece of old rope, part of a broken bicycle, an empty bottle and pure skill.
Get Knotted! Hang Aerial Spectacular (UK) - an upside down, swinging, climbing and hanging comedy show based on the trials and tribulations of a wedding day.
The Balloonatic (Australia) - this show takes the watch-me-twist-this-balloon-into-a-dog scenario to a whole new level! As seen on Britain's Got Talent.
There will also be workshops, a masterclass and roaming street performers throughout the day.
Details of proceedings can be found at Durham Tourist Information Centre or by visiting or www.streetsof.co.uk <http://www.streetsof.co.uk/>
Full programme for Streets of Play:
Millennium Place
12.00 George Fuller, amazing slack rope artist
13.00 Pedro, award-winning street theatre
14.00 AJ, extreme stunt performer
15.00 Great Scott, unbelievable juggling and comedy theatre
16.00 2 High, hilarious stunt duo
17.00 Whitty Look, Japanese circus performance duo
Market Place
12.00 2 High
13.00 Whitty Loo
14.00 George Fuller
15.00 Pedro
16.00 AJ
17.00 Great Scott
Elvet Bridge
12.00 The Fluid Druid, master of contact juggling
13.20 Balloonatic, ridiculous physical comedy!
14.00 The Fluid Druid
16.00 The Fluid Druid
17.00 Balloonatic
Walkergate
12.00 Frayed Knott! – workshop. A chance to learn circus skills
13.00 Great Scott – masterclass. A chance to learn from the master!
14.00 Get Knotted! Spectacular aerial show.
16.00 Frayed Knott!
