Get ready to be amazed! Mark your calendars! The brilliant IF: Milton Keynes International Festival is returning this summer for 10 glorious days from Friday 18 to Sunday 27 July, promising a feast of creativity and unforgettable experiences across Milton Keynes. This isn’t your average festival; it’s a dazzling biennial event bursting with everything from […] The post IF: Milton Keynes International Festival is back! appeared first on MK Pulse.
Get ready to be amazed!
Mark your calendars! The brilliant IF: Milton Keynes International Festival is returning this summer for 10 glorious days from Friday 18 to Sunday 27 July, promising a feast of creativity and unforgettable experiences across Milton Keynes.
This isn’t your average festival; it’s a dazzling biennial event bursting with everything from jaw-dropping installations and captivating performances to spectacular outdoor shows, circus thrills, comedy gold, mesmerising cabaret, live music that will get you moving and heaps of free fun for the whole family.
Festival highlights announced to date include:
Deabru Beltzak: Symfeuny
(Friday 18 July, 9.45pm)
The Festival kicks off with a bang! Deabru Beltzak’s exhilarating pyrotechnic and drumming promenade performance will ignite the city centre, leading you on a vibrant journey that culminates in spectacular fashion at Campbell Park.
Michael Pendry: Les Colombes
(open daily throughout the Festival)
Find a moment of peace and reflection in Middleton Hall at centre:mk (the Festival’s headline partner). Michael Pendry’s beautiful multi-media installation will fill the space with thousands of delicate white paper doves. This moving artwork explores connection and belonging, with opportunities for everyone to get involved in creating and displaying their own doves across the city.
Transe Express: DNA Vertical Odyssey: (Friday 25 & Saturday July, 9.45pm)
Prepare to crane your necks in amazement beside The Point! Transe Express will present a truly breathtaking spectacle. A 40-metre-high sculpture suspended in the night sky becomes the stage for a mesmerising vertical choreography of climbing, aerial dance and circus artistry, all accompanied by electrifying live music.
Luke Jerram: Mars
(open daily throughout the Festival)
Journey to the red planet without leaving Milton Keynes! Luke Jerram’s stunning planetary sculpture, featuring real NASA imagery and a captivating soundscape, will be on display throughout the Festival for everyone to enjoy.
Architects of Air: Terceradix
(Thursday 24-Sunday 27 July)
Step into a world of wonder in Campbell Park! Architects of Air’s monumental walk-in sculpture is a beautiful and intriguing maze of light and colour, promising a truly unique and immersive experience for Festivalgoers of all ages.
The Stables Spiegeltent:
(daily throughout the Festival)
Located in Campbell Park, this iconic venue will once again be at the heart of the Festival’s nightlife, hosting a dazzling array of comedy stars including Lou Sanders and La Voix, fabulous music from the likes of The Demon Barbers, The Selecter and Roachford, family fun with Monski Mouse’s Baby Disco Dance Hall and the Rubbish Shakespeare Company, and a whole lot more!
Klub Girko: Human Time – Tree Time
(Friday 18-Sunday 20 July)
Lose yourself in the enchanting woodlands copse in Campbell Park as Klub Girko present an awe-inspiring acrobatic performance. Two artists will gracefully interact with the trees, their movements highlighting the delicate and vital connection between us and nature, and the urgent need to care for our planet.
Kamchàtka: Fugit
(Thursday 24-Saturday 26 July)
Get ready for an immersive daytime adventure through the streets of Wolverton with the return of the acclaimed Kamchàtka. Their UK premiere of Fugit invites you to step outside your comfort zone and place your trust in strangers, a poignant tribute to those who bravely embrace the unknown.
YUCK Circus
(Friday 18-Saturday 19 July)
Girl power takes centre stage in The Stables Spiegeltent! This all-female Australian troupe will deliver a riotous show packed with incredible acrobatics, hilarious comedy, and captivating dance, championing the female voice with power and style.
Pagrav Dance: One Sky
(Saturday 19 July)
Feel the joy and energy of India’s vibrant kite festivals as Milton Keynes’ very own Pagrav Dance Company brings their spectacular UK premiere to the MK Rose in Campbell Park.
Utopia in Verse
(Thursday 24 July)
Commissioned by the Festival and centre:mk, Milton Keynes-based poet Maureen Onwunali will unveil a brand-new work at this dynamic poetry jam. The event will feature talented guest artists and live musicians, exploring themes of hope and collective liberation.
Family Focus
Both weekends of the Festival will be packed with free, pop-up events across the city for all the family to enjoy. Look out for NoFit State Circus’s Bamboo, a high energy show using only human bodies and bamboo. Osadía’s hair art performance Whose Hair Dares will invite audience members to sit in barbers’ chairs and be transformed into living sculptures with original and provocative hair and make-up.
This is just a tantalising glimpse of what awaits you at this year’s Festival – there’s much more to come! The full programme will be announced in early June. So get ready to immerse yourself in 10 days of extraordinary arts and culture that will inspire, transform and connect our city like never before!
You can find details of all events and sign up for updates on the Festival website at ifmiltonkeynes.org
To book tickets call the Festival box office on 01908 280800 or book online at ifmiltonkeynes.org
The post IF: Milton Keynes International Festival is back! appeared first on MK Pulse.