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15 June 2018, 11:54 | Updated: 30 July 2018, 09:35
IF: Milton Keynes International Festival 2018 takes place between Friday July 20th and Sunday July 29th in public spaces and unusual locations across Milton Keynes.
Get ready for a feast of stand-up comedy, live music, circus shows, outdoor and large-scale events, pop-ups, and free and family activities across Milton Keynes, in Campbell Park and the city centre. The Festival’s 10 amazing days features a free opening night parade of super-sized insects and mini-beasts taking over the city streets, Festival Central in Campbell Park and beautiful artworks set in woodlands at Great Linford Park.
'Festival Central' will be in Campbell Park this year, and once again Heart will be involved, popping up at events throughout the Festival, and if you listen to Heart Breakfast with Ivan & Emma and Heart Drivetime with Gareth Wesley, you can keep up to date with details on all the amazing events you can see.
Check out this Festival Trailer Film to get a taste for what's coming to MK over ten amazing days!
Festival Circus Hub: 20th - 29th July in Middleton Hall, centre:mk, MK9 3EP
Middleton Hall is the location for a specially built venue hosting international circus and acrobatic shows across the 10 days of the Festival, marking 250 years of circus in the UK. For a list of all the shows and to book tickets...
Free Curiosities Fair:
Friday 20 - Sunday 22 July, 11am and 3pm each day in Middleton Hall, centre:mk MK9 3EP
£8, Under 16s £7, Universal Credit concession £5, Family (4 people, max 2 adults) £28
Unreserved seating. Book tickets here
Made up of five women from five different countries, Catalan company Vavel brings a delightful, high energy circus show. Garbuix is jam-packed with acrobatics, music, game playing, laughter, bicycles, a big white bear, and bags of fun and mayhem. These highly talented performers come from Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Italy and Switzerland bringing endless physical and linguistic tricks in a zany and enthralling comic circus show for all the family.
Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 July, 11am and 3pm each day in Middleton Hall, centre:mk MK9 3EP
£8, Under 16s £7, Universal Credit concession £5, Family (4 people, max 2 adults) £28
Unreserved seating. Book tickets here
Fillage brings together musicians, instrument manufacturers, woodworkers and circus artists to combine spectacular trampolining, acrobatics and juggling with specially composed live music. The result is a comedic, witty and daring show from this Belgian company, with musicians and acrobatic artists sharing the stage and leaping into the unknown. Great fun!
Wednesday 25 July, 11am and 3pm / Thursday 26 July, 10am and 1pm in Middleton Hall, centre:mk MK9 3EP
£8, Under 16s £7, Universal Credit concession £5, Family (4 people, max 2 adults) £28
Unreserved seating. Book tickets here
What happens when dance and circus collide? Block is a powerful fusion of dance and circus that pushes the limits of both art forms, using daring physicality, split-second timing and thrilling feats. Twenty oversized blocks, fashioned to resemble giant concrete Jenga blocks, are deconstructed and reformed into an infinite variety of shapes for the performers to play on, move with and explore.
Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger: Halka (UK Premiere)
Friday 27 - Sunday 29 July, 2.30pm each day in Middleton Hall, centre:mk MK9 3EP
Tickets £16, Under 16s £14, Universal Credit concession £10, Family (4 people, max 2 adults) £56
Unreserved seating. Book tickets here
This Moroccan collective of extraordinarily skilled acrobats and musicians take audiences on a compelling journey through bustling market places, to the cafés and beaches of Tangier. Halka is the word used to describe the circle formed by crowds gathered around street performers, storytellers, acrobats and singers. Inspired by this rich cultural heritage, the company combines traditional and contemporary acrobatics, tumbling and high-flying human pyramids to share stories with humour, and an authentic and magnetic energy.
Friday 20 - Sunday 29 July, 10am – 5pm except when a show is on. Take place in Middleton Hall, centre:mk MK9 3EP
Free
Discover the extraordinary world of Mr Tonet whose fantastical life and fascinating adventures are revealed by solving the puzzles created by the skilled makers of Catalonia’s Tombs Creatius. Crafted from discarded objects and recycled old furniture, these ingenious games combine mechanical movement, light and sound. Each puzzle includes a box, in each box there is a story, and in each story there is a fascinating character or creature…
Friday 27 and Saturday 28 July, 10.30am and 12.30pm / Sunday 29 July, 12.30pm in Middleton Hall, centre:mk MK9 3EP
FREE
The Strong Lady performs her classic street theatre show with muscle and grace, brute strength and beauty – and always with elegance. A genuine strong woman, Australia’s Betty Brawn presents an exhilarating array of stunts. Shattering gender clichés, she tears thick books in half with her bare hands, twists solid metal, snaps steel chains and performs the Human Carousel, carrying the weight of two gigantic men.
Friday 20 July, 9.45pm in Central Milton Keynes. Starts at intu (Saxon Gate side) and finishes in Campbell Park
As dusk becomes darkness, giant insects move through the streets in a larger-than-life spectacle with music and special effects from Catalan company, Sarruga. Witness fantastical steam-breathing ants, spiders and praying mantis tower over cars and feast on trees. Follow the parade as it works its way to Campbell Park for a short firework finale at approximately 10.30pm. Prepare for the insect invasion…
Friday 20 - Monday 23 July and Wednesday 25 – Sunday 29 July
Sessions at 3.30pm, 4.30pm, 5.30pm, 6.30pm, 8.30pm, 9.30pm and 10.30pm. No 10.30pm slot on Friday 20 July
Near Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £15, Universal Credit concession £10. Suitable for ages 14+ Book tickets here
Dutch theatre maker and visual artist Dries Verhoeven invites you on his theatrical ‘ghost train’… Swept along on a thought-provoking tour of today’s angst-fuelling media landscape – so flawlessly exploited by politicians, terrorists, marketers and fake news – explore our contemporary culture of fear, difference and migration, with its ever-increasing threats and paranoia. Dries Verhoeven is a world-renowned artist who makes installations and performances highlighting the socio-political reality we live in.
Installation: Friday 20 – Sunday 29 July
Dance performances: Saturday 28 July, 12.10pm, 1.45pm and 3.20pm Sunday 29 July, 12.10pm, 1.45pm and 4.10pm
Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Free
Belgian company Theater Tol’s Life of Tree is an installation of large-scale illuminated dresses. Honouring remarkable women who have made a significant contribution to history with pioneering courage, strength and intelligence, Life of Tree is a meeting place, a memorial and a resting place. Stand under a dress and you will hear music and lyrics – an ode to the inspiring woman the dress represents. Theater Tol will present a dance performance to accompany the installation on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July.
Friday 20 – Monday 23 July and Wednesday 25 – Saturday 28 July 9.15pm, 9.30pm, 9.45pm, 10pm, 10.15pm, 10.30pm, 10.45pm, 11pm at Linford Manor Park, Great Linford, nearest postcode MK14 5AX
Tickets £15, Under 16s £13, Universal Credit concession £10, Family (4 people, max 2 adults) £52
Book tickets here
Immerse yourself in a night-time adventure where sound and light take flight… For The Birds is a self-guided journey in an historic landscape transformed by light and sound installations by some of the most dynamic sound artists in the UK, including Mark Anderson, Jony Easterby, Kathy Hinde, Ulf Pedersen and Pippa Taylor. Marvel at the beauty and poignancy of the installations – performances, projections and kinetic sculptures that celebrate birds in song, movement and flight.
Friday 20 and Saturday 21 July, 7pm / Sunday 22 July, 2.30pm
The Stables Spiegeltent, Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £21.50, Under 16s £18.50, Universal Credit £14, Family of 4 (max 2 adults) £74
Book tickets hereDriftwood is an exquisitely beautiful and dazzling display of choreography, acrobatics, trapeze and aerial stunts. This is a circus show that will take you on a journey of explosive encounters, hidden looks and humorous discoveries reminding us that to feel is to be human and in a moment of danger, a grasping hold is survival… These phenomenal performers make up Australia’s hottest young circus company, taking this art form to a whole new level and testing the very limits of the human body with breathtaking skill, strength and bravery.
Sunday 22 July, Cycling from 2pm, Performance at MK Rose, 3pm
Starts and finishes at the MK Rose, Campbell Park MK9 4AJ
Free
Bicycle bells become musical instruments, cyclists become musicians, musicians become cyclists… Cycling and music come together in this unique collaboration between Milton Keynes composer Craig McLeish and dozens of cyclists who have swapped their regular bell for one crafted from a repurposed instrument. These specially tuned bells will be played as cyclists travel routes and Redways around Campbell Park, culminating in the performance of a brand new short piece of music for massed bicycle bells at the MK Rose.
With live music from Slagwerk Den Haag, presented in association with Milton Keynes Theatre
Sunday 22 July, 4pm and 8pm / Monday 23 July, 1.30pm, 4pm and 8pm at Milton Keynes Theatre
Tickets £15, Under 16s £13, Universal Credit concession £10, Family (4 people, max 2 adults) £52
Suitable for ages 14+
Book tickets here
A playful and uplifting theatre performance without words, made by Utrecht’s Schweigman& with percussion group Slagwerk Den Haag. The earth is running slower and slower, but our world is running faster and faster. Time is rushed. How can we experience time and space in the middle of this chaotic and charged environment? Combining movement, design, light, sound and manipulation of space, Schweigman& (under the artistic direction of Boukje Schweigman) creates an experience that is at once playful, spontaneous, empowering and thought-provoking.
Filming: Monday 23 - Wednesday 25 July at Queen’s Court, centre:mk MK9 3ES
Screening: Friday 27 July, 7pm in the Vagabond Cinema Dome in Campbell Park
Free
Australia’s Back to Back Theatre brings new forms of contemporary performance to audiences and participants worldwide. The Democratic Set explores the belief that all people are, in principle, equal and should enjoy social, political and economic rights and opportunities. Creating a short film that captures a cavalcade of screen-based video portraits, Back to Back will use a custom-made film set to work with and film performances by the people of Milton Keynes.
Thursday 26 - Saturday 28 July, 8pm at The Stables, Stockwell Lane, Wavendon MK17 8LU
Tickets £27.50
Book tickets here
A compelling fable for our modern world, Wind Resistance is written and performed by multi-award-winning singer-songwriter, Karine Polwart. Every autumn, 2,500 pink-footed geese fly from Iceland and Greenland to winter at Fala Flow, a protected peat-bog south-east of Edinburgh. From this windy plateau, Karine surveys the surrounding landscape through history, birdlore and personal memoir in a spellbinding alchemy of song and story, with potent lighting and electro-acoustic effects.
Tuesday 24 - Sunday 29 July West Bletchley, by The Frank Moran Centre, Melrose Avenue MK3 6PA
Places allocated to the local community
Housed in a shipping container, La Cocina Pública is a mobile kitchen that brings communities together through food and feasting. Travelling from Chile through cities and neighbourhoods in search of local recipes, aromas, practices and customs, Teatro Container will work with West Bletchley residents to share stories and food that will be enjoyed at delicious feasting events - with artists, storytellers, singers and musicians providing entertainment.
Festival Central is open to everyone – come and soak up the Festival atmosphere! Campbell Park is the location for The Stables Spiegeltent, Vodafone Gigatent, Vagabond Cinema Dome (27 – 29 July), outdoor performances, free and family events, the Acoustic Stage, food outlets, bars and a box office.
Festival Central Opening Times:
Programme and timings may be subject to change. For updates please check www.ifmiltonkeynes.org and social media @IFMKfest #IFMKfest
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 July, 11am - 1pm and 2pm - 5pm both days at Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Free
An ingenious carousel of extraordinary cows cleverly crafted from wood, scrap and leather. Whilst children aged from 2 to 6 years old get to climb onto the carousel, it only goes round if the grown-ups milk the mechanical cow that provides all the power… The ride is accompanied by cowbell mooh-music from the wonderfully inventive Mooh Organ.
Saturday 21 July: Treasure Chest Tales / Sunday 22 July: Furry Tales 11am, 12.50pm and 2.40pm both days
Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Free
Incorporating music, puppets and audience interaction, Widdershins skilfully brings a series of magical stories to life. Enchanting tales from across the world told with gusto to delight and entertain all ages.
Treasure Chest Tales: Stone Soup, Granny Dumpling and The Princess and the Pea
Furry Tales: Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and Three Billy Goats Gruff
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 July, 11:50am, 1.40pm, 3.30pm both days in Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Free
An interactive adaptation of Emily Hughes’ popular book The Little Gardener. Performed inside a greenhouse containing a real garden, meet the little gardener and the garden that means everything to him. Help bring his garden to life and get your hands dirty in this spellbinding show that will melt your heart. Suitable for all, recommended for ages 2 - 6.
Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July at intervals throughout both days in Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Free
Watch two beautiful 1950’s Jukeboxes spring to life to re-create classic pop music videos. In a lip-syncing musical medley, Bootworks’ performers use props, masks and puppets (and a terrible selection of wigs!) to animate favourite pop songs past and present. No disc is left unturned as Elvis, Miley Cyrus, The Spice Girls and Adele all make cameos…
Friday 20 - Sunday 29 July
Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Free
New sounds, emerging talent and unsigned bands in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. Each session is 45 minutes.
Friday 20 July
6.15pm Hope in High Water
8.15pm Hannah’s Yard
Saturday 21 July
1.15pm Amit Dattani
2.15pm Elizabeth & Jameson
3.15pm Hannah Scott
4.15pm Pete Hemsley
5.15pm Paolo Morena
6.15pm Sian Magill
8.15pm Roses & Pirates
Sunday 22 July
12.45pm Tracey Browne
1.45pm Michelle Nadia
3.45pm Lowly Hounds
5pm Amy Claire & John Bowman
6pm Sweetcornbread
7pm Ethemia
Monday 23 July
7.15pm Candi’s Dog
8.45pm Inlak’esh
Tuesday 24 July
6pm The Other Band
7pm Rebecca de Winter
Wednesday 25 July
6pm Anna Hester
7pm Fred’s House
Thursday 26 July
6pm Jinder
7pm Natasha Seale Duo
Friday 27 July
5.45pm Yvonne Lyon
6.45pm Amelia Lappert
9.15pm April Blue
Saturday 28 July
12.45pm Navaro
1.45pm Katey Brooks
4pm Tinderbox
5pm The Hallows
6pm Dawn Iverson
7pm Harrison Bond
9.15pm Chris Fox
Sunday 29 July
12.45pm Joe Miles
3pm The Blackheart Orchestra
4pm Tom Korni
5pm Manny & The Coloured Sky
6pm James Burrage
7pm Steve Winch & The Inception
The Stables Spiegeltent
Festival Central
Campbell Park MK9 4AD
The Spiegeltent is an exotic setting for live music, comedy and late-night cabaret. Beautifully constructed with wood, stained glass, velvet drapes and mirrors, and complete with its own bar, this is the venue for live music, comedy and late-night cabaret. The Spiegeltent is the beating heart of the Festival, and the ideal meeting place for audiences and performers.
Friday 20 July, 9pm at The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £27.50. Unreserved seating, cabaret style
Book tickets here
With impeccable retro style, The Puppini Sisters brilliantly rework modern pop as vintage swing and add zest to timeless classics. Famed for their gorgeous and immaculate Andrews Sisters-style close harmonies, the Sisters have a legion of fans worldwide, have collaborated with Michael Bublé and have five albums under their waist-clinching belts.
Saturday 21 July, 9pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £21. All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Book tickets here
Driven by a love of funk, blues and 1960’s/70’s soul, Brother Strut deliver unparalleled live shows. Exciting and electric, the band is made up of some of the finest musicians around - between them they’ve notched up half a billion sales working with iconic artists including Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner and Amy Winehouse.
Sunday 22 July, 8pm at The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £17. Unreserved seating, cabaret style
Book tickets here
After fending off death on Bear Grylls’ Celebrity Island TV show, Mark Watson returns to what he’s best at – being indoors. This multi-award-winning writer and TV comedy star offers witty food for thought, audience interactions and all sorts of other fun in this work-in-progress show.
Support: Jally Kebba Susso
Monday 23 July, 8pm at The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £22.50. All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Book tickets here
Pioneering audio-video remixers and electronic duo Addictive TV have spent six years collaborating with musicians around the world. The Orchestra of Samples features international artists from Brazil, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Senegal, Colombia, Bhutan and across Europe ingeniously sampled and spliced together to create a digital supergroup who have never met, but play together on-screen. This one-off musical journey without borders will feature world-famous percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and guitar virtuoso Alejandro de Valera.
Tuesday 24 July, 7.45pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £16.50. All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Book tickets here
With a host of headline stealing gigs across Europe, this 6-piece outfit plays great, original music with showmanship, swagger and suave. With echoes of American folk, swing, jazz, country, ragtime and bluegrass, as well as contemporary touchstones such as hip hop, metal, dubstep, house and dancehall, nothing is off limits!
Support: The Black Feathers
Wednesday 25 July, 7.45pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £25. All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Book tickets here
Eliza first assembled the exceptional 12-piece Wayward Band in 2013 to promote her ‘best of’ compilation Wayward Daughter. Still together, they continue to champion the vibrancy of today’s traditional music, ‘the last truly underground music scene’, with a big band and big sound.
Thursday 26 July, 7.45pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £37.50. All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Book tickets here
It’s just over a decade since Newton Faulkner released his debut album and became something of a household name. Since then, he has recharged his batteries, reinvented his sound and released an astonishing genre-hopping sixth album Hit The Ground Running (2017) that is by far the best and boldest of his career. The ultra-long dreadlocks have gone, the guitar is even better and the voice is bigger than ever. Book early!
Friday 27 and Saturday 28 July, 10pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £16. Unreserved seating, cabaret style for ages 16+
Book tickets here
Ms Lili La Scala - decadent diva of vintage glamour and divine Mistress of Ceremonies - is back! With her beloved cabaret reprobates to entertain you in these rollicking late-night shows, Lili presents her dazzling cabaret spectacular with a veritable variety smorgasbord of international comedy, burlesque, music and more. With Havana Hurricane, Elliot Mason, Pi the Mime, Scarlett Daggers - and, of course, Lili herself.
Saturday 28 July, 2.30pm at The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Tickets £8, Universal Credit concession £5, Family (4 people, max 2 adults) £28
Free for babies under 6 months
Book tickets here
Australian DJ Monski Mouse spins the discs, bringing high energy fun and smiles to under 5s and their families. Striking a balance between anthems for the grown-ups and tracks for the children, the musical selection is a combination of fun retro dance tracks and funky nursery rhymes. Part of the dance floor is set up with a soft furnished ‘baby area’ where non-walkers can roll around to the music too. Ms Mouse and her experienced early childhood performers lead the crowd in a warm-up and facilitate the fun.
Saturday 28 July, 7.45pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £21. All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Book tickets here
This cactus sharp, stetson wearing, magnificent 6 create the perfect cantina setting for a tequila-fuelled rocking party night. Fronted by Paul Young, Los Pacaminos play the very best in Tex Mex Border music with an incendiary mix of classics and original material, from The Texas Tornadoes and Ry Cooder to Los Lobos and even Roy Orbsion. Book early!
Sunday 29 July, 11.30am in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £6, Universal Credit £5 Unreserved seating. Suitable for ages 7+
Book tickets here
Politics is boring. Politics is complicated. Politics is for adults. RUBBISH! Politics is actually super important. Luckily Tatton Spiller (Simple Politics) and Tiernan Douieb (Comedy Club 4 Kids, CBBC’s The Slammer) know exactly how to make sense of it so that it’s great fun. You might not be able to vote yet but you have opinions and you know the world you want to see…
Sunday 29 July, 2pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £10, Under 16s £9, Universal Credit £6, Family of 4 (max 2 adults) £36
Unreserved seating. Suitable for ages 6+
Book tickets here
The best stand-ups and sketch acts from the international circuit do their thing for an audience of children and their families. It’s just like a normal comedy club, but is on in the daytime, the children are welcome, it’s without the rude bits and there’s no patronising idiocy!
Sunday 29 July, 7.45pm in The Stables Spiegeltent, Campbell Park MK9 4AD
Tickets £14 All standing/dancing with limited unreserved seating
Book tickets here
With a small army of virtuoso musicians the Ceilidh Liberation Front combines music, dance and a generous sprinkling of theatricals. Subverting and converting the world with their energetic new ceilidh regime, this band breathes vigour and vitality into the traditional ceilidh, whilst honouring its roots and traditions with charismatic callers, uplifting tunes and cracking dances… Bring your dancing shoes for a final fling on the last night of the Festival!
Talks and discussions exploring different aspects of the Festival programme. All talks are in the Arabian Tent, Festival Central, Campbell Park MK9 4AD and are free
Discussion: For The Birds
Sunday 22 July, 11.30am - 12.15pm
For The Birds artists discuss working in Milton Keynes to create a unique night-time experience. With Mark Anderson, Jony Easterby, Kathy Hinde and The Parks Trust.
Discussion: Brexitarama
Monday 23 July, 5.45pm - 6.45pm
A discussion about international culture in a post-Brexit landscape. The panel will include Dries Verhoeven, creator of Phobiarama and Alison Woods of NoFit State Circus.
Discussion: Open Forum - Home?
Thursday 26 July, 3.30pm - 5.30pm
An open discussion about what ‘home’ means in relation to the making of The Democratic Set in Milton Keynes. With Back to Back Theatre, Dr Agnes Czajka (Department of Politics & International Studies, Open University) and Richard DeDomenici (artist and film-maker, IF: 2016).
In Conversation: Jenny Sealey MBE
Sunday 29 July, 11.30am - 12.15pm
Festival Director Monica Ferguson talks with Jenny Sealey, CEO/Artistic Director of Graeae Theatre Company which places D/deaf and disabled actors centre stage, and challenges preconceptions.