There is just over one week until Milton Keynes City Council hosts the city’s first ever family-friendly Midsummer Festival, where residents are invited to celebrate the summer solstice.
On Sunday 23 June from 10am to 10.30pm, Midsummer Boulevard will be transformed into Festival central for a free event inspired by traditional midsummer themes of renewal, healing, and health.
There will be street theatre, music, free workshops and folklore-inspired art available at the festival. In addition to all this, amazing pop-up street food will be prepared by Sophie and co will be available throughout the duration of the day, and into the evening. The festival will then end with a parade to the Light Pyramid in Campbell Park.
To make things easier for festival goers and event production teams, Midsummer Boulevard East will be closed to traffic in order to make the use the site safer. There will be road closure signs to inform and redirect motorists. The buses that usually pick up and drop off passengers on Midsummer Boulevard East will not be picked up/dropped off outside The Point on Lower Tenth Street.
Festival highlights include:
- Wild Rumpus, who produce immersive worlds that take audiences into magical and enchanting places, will transform the Boulevard into an inspiring space celebrating the natural world.
- In Ghost Caribou from Thingumajig Theatre, giant illuminated mystical creatures will roam with a wild herdsperson. As they gather a crowd, they’ll perform other-worldly ceremonies filled with music, song, and shadow puppets.
- Hip Hop maypole mavericks Folk Dance Remixed will perform their genre-breaking mix of maypole, clogging, breakdance and more.
- Make your own suncatcher, design your own tarot card and taste the delights of locally foraged Solst-iced Drinks in the wellness workshop tent.
- Three MK based artists will take over Porte Cocheres for improvised music and dance in response to sunlight and shadow; as a nest for large magpie puppets roaming the site; and for an immersive artwork which tracks the movement of the sun.
- ‘Fire Leap With Me’ by Carole Keating includes a very special ‘fire-jumping’ ceremony (traditionally those who make it across will enjoy good health throughout the year) where the artist’s ‘fire pit’ features paper logs and hand-painted flames built in collaboration with the audience.
- A music tent with contemporary folk acts Stick in the Wheel, Benedict Drew and Arianne Churchman, summer tunes, and – as the sun goes down – experimental music before an atmospheric spoken word performance.
Find the full programme and approximate timings, FAQs, transport information and more at:
