Preview: Streets Alive! festival, June 11 to 19 (From York Press)

Preview: Streets Alive! festival, June 11 to 19

Introducing... Streets Alive, the free festival with Royal Ascot at York in the middle.

This is the Year of the Festival in the "City of Festivals". City of York Council and York Archaeological Trust have organised a nine-day festival from June 11 to 19 as the entertainment wraparound for Royal Ascot at York. Elenor David, city-centre events co-ordinator, gives Charles Hutchinson a rundown of Streets Alive!

What is the aim of Streets Alive!?

"The free festival is being fully funded by Yorkshire Forward, and each day brings a different theme, ranging from art to history to music to a taste of the Indian sub-continent with a Mela finale. You can expect a range of street entertainment, markets, music and workshops every day from morning till early evening in Parliament Street, St Sampson's Square and Coppergate."

The launch event, Festival Fun from 10am to 5pm tomorrow, will set the tone.

"It's very much family focused with lots of interactive workshops, which will run all day with no pre-booking required. Lizzie Warren will organise the circus skills workshop in Parliament Street; Keith Jackman will be running the junk music workshop in St Sampson's Square, where you can make musical instruments out of oil drums and old pipes which he'll provide. That ties in well with the council's recycling drive.

"There'll also be storytelling by York action poet Adrian Spendlow, and face painting and hair braiding."

Sunday is Art In The Streets Day. What will be the main attractions from 10am to 5pm?

"Joanne Pullar, from Space 109, will be in charge of the pavement art in Parliament Street. She'll draw the outline and then anyone can join in and do their contribution. If it rains, it will disappear, but otherwise we hope the artwork will be there all week for people to enjoy.

"Urban artist Keith Hopewell will do a live art installation on a massive canvas, 6ft by 6ft, and that is something to watch rather than be involved with. Adrian Spendlow is back, this time doing 3-D poems; Jason Maverick and his troupe of human statues were in New York last week, and this weekend they will be in Parliament Street."

History Live, from 10am to 7pm on Monday, looks to be the busiest day of all.

"This is the big headline day, the day before Royal Ascot starts, and the biggest thing we're doing is working hand in hand with the Leeds Royal Armouries Museum. Pretty much all day they're providing displays of armour, with medieval knights battling in full armour, Joan of Arc telling her tale, and characters from the Wars of the Roses.

"There'll be Samurai armour, not seen outside Japan before; the Sealed Knot will be doing an English Civil War re-enactment; and the York Roman Festival and Jorvik will be demonstrating training exercises and battle moves with a mock-up fight in St Sampson's Square. It's a bit of a York thing where they do like to get together to show who's the hardest."

Is there anything less bellicose that day?

"Georgian stiltwalkers Madam Ovary and Cecily Bumtrinket, from Circo Rum Baba, are doing their acrobatics; HoBo Theatre, the historical street theatre company from York, are presenting their half-hour piece on George and the Dragon in Parliament Street; and MarkMark, from Barnsley, are performing a commedia dell'arte show, Medieval Maniacs, and return on Wednesday and Thursday with their Swash & Buckle show.

"The York Guilds and Companies are doing a wagon play from the York Mystery Plays at 6.30pm in Parliament Street; Adrian Spendlow - he's back again! - is contributing his Sagas; and York Dungeon gives a taster of its Judgement of Sinners attraction."

What about the Bouncing Kangaroos. When will they be on the hop?

"June 16 in the city centre, but there'll be only one of them. The other guy in a kangaroo suit is stuck in Australia, so we'll have one bouncing kangaroo and a roo keeper. They're from a company called Icarus and they once came second to Coldplay in a vote for best act at Glastonbury. I'm hoping they're going to do the Micklegate Run as the Micklegate Bounce before it gets too busy with racing revellers."

Who is taking part in Music In The Street next Saturday?

"In Parliament Street, the University of York Jazz Orchestra start the day off at 11 o'clock; Zamar Gospel Choir, from the university, sing at midday; they sound like they're from Georgia and look like they're auditioning for Hollyoaks.

"The Real Macaws, a Leeds funk band, play at 1.30pm; Leeds salsa band Almeida Girl are on at 3.30pm, and York indie rock band Sixty6 finish the day at 5.30pm.

"Over at Coppergate, between 10am and 5pm, Hebden Bridge Brass Band will be followed by some Scandinavian bands. Interesting!"

The big finish on June 19 is the York Mela from 10am to 5pm in Parliament Street. What will it involve?

"It's a taste of the Indian sub-continent, which we first did at York Music Live last year. It'll be a relaxed day with henna painting; Rangoli pavement art with coloured grains and lentils; Dandyia's Indian stick dancing with audience participation; and Indian board games, in Parliament Street.

"Ramah Isaiah, will play the veena, an instrument a bit like a sitar but horizontal; Indigo Motion will do a puppet show called Saraswati at intervals from midday in Coppergate; and City Screen will show the big Bollywood movie of the moment, Waqt, at 4 o'clock. That should be a good finish."

Updated: 09:06 Friday, June 10, 2005