Assemble Fest on Newland Avenue
Hull is fast becoming a city of festivals, with more annual events than there are months in the calendar. One particularly dramatic example is Assemble Fest, the theatre festival that returns to Newland Avenue on Saturday 23 May with five shows by some of the city’s top creative talent.
Funded by Arts Council England, Hull City Council, Community First and KC, partnered with Hull Truck Theatre and Hull University and supported by the 2017 City of Culture team, Assemble Fest commissions high quality work to be performed in various spots multiple times throughout the day. With last year’s event including a musical in a hair salon and a CSI investigation in a car park, 2015 is even more experimental, uncovering little-known spaces and transforming the street in highly visual ways.
The theatre companies presenting exciting new work are Silent Uproar, PinUpRound, Bellow Theatre, The Roaring Girls, and Open Umbrella in association with Apus Productions. Each company focuses on a unique concept and theme, from a promenade performance of a modernised fairy tale using silent disco technology, to a mock protest in a church.
The Assemble Fest team is dedicated to making the festival as inclusive and engaging as possible. It’s a showcase of theatre and the arts, a celebration of Newland, and an invitation to rediscover the avenue as a vibrant place filled with good food, stylish boutiques and independent businesses. All 700 tickets were sold at the 2014 edition, with many traders enjoying their busiest day in years, and 2015 sees an increase in capacity to over 1,000 seats.
Visitors to Newland Avenue on the day will also find a variety of non-ticketed activity, such as buskers, face painting, live art, Punch and Judy, and The Gold Man, Hull’s favourite living statue. Meanwhile, the Community Church will host The Hub Space, where you can learn a new skill in thirty minutes for free, ranging from stilt walking to stage combat, and meet teams from Hull City Arts, Roots and Wings and Hull Truck Theatre.
With all kinds of exciting and innovative exhibitions, festivals, events, gigs and shows taking place daily, this city really is the perfect place to live, work and play. If you’re looking for a new place to call your own, check out these properties to rent in Hull and contact us on 01482 342155 for a friendly and informative chat.