A brand-new weekend festival hits the Stroud festival scene this November offering a wonderous array of events, activities and spaces designed to engage, enrich and inspire wonder.

The Stroud Festival of Wonder will include free spectacular circus shows in a town centre church including aerial and acrobatic performances, magic, beat-box, shadow puppetry and dance.

The intention of the Festival is to inspire a sense of wonder and hope for a more beautiful world and refuge from the challenges of our current one.

It will be a place where we can walk-away with our hearts on fire to bring about the changes that would make the more beautiful world come into being.

Apart from a Sunday evening concert and the purchase of hot meals, it is a completely free event to all participants and includes activities for all ages.

The centre point of the Festival will be a circus inspired show, ‘After Elijah’, featuring both local and international artists, which is written and directed by Andy Bewley, Associate Director of Giffords Circus, and former Moscow State Circus and Gifford’s aerial strap artist and designer Tatiana Ozhiganova, who is now based in Stroud.

Andy comments, ‘”Circus has long welcomed different art, cultures, and audiences into its tents – around the world and throughout history. So, we feel very lucky to be able to bring circus into an equally welcoming space as St Laurence Church: in the heart of Stroud. The show will be for everyone: all ages, all faiths, all people. It will offer an hour of fun, amazement, and joy; a bit of escapism and wonder.”

The festival also includes warm spaces for community food, reflection, spoken word, music and craft. There will be a community café throughout the weekend, including vegan food by popular Stroud chef Sam Angelo, as well as free hot drinks and cake, alongside face painting and an under-5s play area run by the local Tiddlywinks group.

‘After Elijah’ will feature a number of international acts supported by local artists.

International artists include Master of Illusion and the only Magic Circle Triple Crown Champion Edward Hilsum, multi-talented musician, beat-boxer and dancer Akeim Toussaint Buck, shadow puppetry artist Drew Colby and aerial specialists Duo Odyssey featuring Ukrainian Maks Korbun and Liverpudlian Sophia Carmen.

From the Stroud area Tatiana will wow the audiences with a stunning aerial performance and former Moscow State Circus / Giffords acrobat and aerial performer Denis Remnev, multi-talented actor, dancer and comedian Nancy Trotter Landry, and Ambitions Dance Group will all perform.

Phil Coysh, chair of the organising team, says “We are living in troubled times and we all need a rest-bite from the challenges we are experiencing. So this unique festival, combining the magic and wonder of circus with creative, reflective spaces to find peace and hope, is a mostly free intergenerational event to bring the community of Stroud together to imagine a better world of wonder and hope.”

The festival will conclude on Sunday afternoon with the only ticketed event of the weekend, a Jazz Vespers Concert featuring Alyn Shipton (well-loved BBC Radio 3 jazz presenter, composer and author) and his New Orleans Jazz Band. As the only ticketed event the Jazz Vespers is an inspiring and fresh interpretation of traditional revivalist jazz bands that made up the birth of New Orleans jazz. Further details and tickets are available on the website.

When & Where?

Saturday & Sunday 19th & 20th of November 2022 at St Laurence Church: Stroud Centre for Peace & the Arts in the centre of Stroud.

The festival opens at 1pm on the 19th with free circus shows at 2.30pm (open dress run), 5.30pm and 7.30pm, interspersed with music, spoken word, crafts, play area and community food alongside a ‘Wall of Wonder’ and ‘Into the Wonder of Stillness’, a creative and reflective space which includes lopped films of our amazing world and universe.

Sunday morning sees a united intergenerational church service based entitled ‘The Wonder of Worship’ – church as you’ve never experienced it before – at 11am followed by a free community lunch at 12.30pm. There will be a drama workshop in the afternoon led by Andy Bewley and the final ticketed Jazz Vespers concert at 4.30pm.

By Whom?

The event is led by Ignition Gloucestershire (charity number 1115733), the local events charity that brought the annual free Stratford Park Family Fun Days to Stroud for 8 years and is supported by a network of local groups, organisations and individual volunteers.