GUEST POST: Derby Festé 2025: Programme celebrating creativity and community will delight all ages

Derby Festé is set to return with a spectacular line-up of free, outdoor performances featuring a diverse range of shows from leading UK and international artists.

The 2025 event, on Saturday 27 September, promises to bring a vibrant mix of circus, dance, and interactive theatre to the heart of the city, offering something for all ages.

Expect the unexpected as the streets burst into life with a full-on sensory adventure designed to spark your imagination and stir your soul. This year’s festival will showcase a variety of captivating performances performed in locations across the city centre.

Cathedral Green and Derby Market Place will host most of the activities, with others at Cathedral Square, Derby Museums, Derby Market Hall, Osnabruck Square and QUAD – there will even be some roving around the Cathedral Quarter!

The vibrant event is proudly presented by Derby City Council with project grant support from Arts Council England National Lottery funding. Festé is delivered in partnership with FABRIC, the Midlands strategic dance development organisation, with additional support from Cathedral Quarter Derby, Derby Museums and QUAD.

Councillor Nadine Peatfield, Leader of Derby City Council and Cabinet Member for City Centre, Regeneration, Strategy and Policy, said:

“When Festé announced a break in 2024 and then the key organiser, Deda, ceased to exist, it became our priority to ensure Festé returned to Derby in 2025.

“The programme is absolutely jam-packed with amazing acts and entertainment. From circus acrobatics and dazzling dance to theatre, art, and sensory installations – you’ll have to see to believe it!

“We’re proud to be working with our partners to bring this accessible, diverse, and absolutely spectacular event to the people of Derby.”

The main Derby Festé programme runs from midday until 6pm and will include:

At Cathedral Green, get ready for high-flying acrobatics and a touch of mischief. Spinsane will warm hearts with its unique humour and spectacular ‘wheel of death’ acrobatics.

Crying Out Loud will present Taroo, a Parkour and circus show telling the everyday story of what happens in streets across the world. With a fusion of acrobatics, Chinese pole and urban street moves, this show is not all that it seems.

Maison Foo’s Story Chefs will bring delicious stories brought to life, with a sprinkle of mischief, magic, puppets, music and theatre fun.

Vanhulle Dance Theatre’s ORB is a mythological dance duet exploring the tension between connection and distance. Featuring explosive physicality, stunning partner work, and martial arts-inspired movement, it creates a striking visual experience set to an emotive score.

Unleash your inner artist with Up Against the Wall, as artist and cartoonist Scott Walker invites everyone to contribute to a huge, five-metre-long doodle art canvas, creating a one-of-a-kind community artwork.

At Derby Market Place, audiences will be wowed by Pirates of the Carabina, who will deliver a live music and aerial show built around an old London taxi in their production, Pirate Taxi.

Families can enjoy Hikapee’s Everywhere’s a Beach, a dynamic, high-energy circus show on a giant, revolving parasol.

The festival will feature thought-provoking dance performances, with 2Faced Dance presenting Fish Boy, young Tommy Minton’s ‘fin-tastic quest’ to save a river – a poignant yet joyful adventure to captivate audiences of all ages.

Ascension: The Other Side has dancers sliding, crashing and leaping whilst tackling ideas of selfishness and bridging divides.

Highly Sprung’s Accelerate uses aerial spectacle and dynamic movement to explore our toxic relationship with energy and the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, at QUAD, get up close and inside a boundless world, defy your senses and immerse yourself in a futuristic landscape with Tom Dale Company’s SURGE VR.

Murmuration Arts’ Nightlight Lullabies will offer moments of comfort through three sensory installations exploring the experiences of Derbian parents. These will be located at the Museum of Making, Derby Museum and Art Gallery and outside Derby Cathedral.

As well as stunning spectacles in key city centre locations, there will be walkabout performances throughout the afternoon.

Bedlam Oz will present the hilarious and captivating Big Mob, a walkabout performance featuring giant slinkies that pop up with mini street shows at Derby Market Hall and Cornmarket. Don’t miss The Fabularium: Carnival of the Animals – a wondrous collection of woodland creatures sharing their stories of courage and adventure, with songs of celebration and friendship.

Hubbub Theatre Company will also present a selection of co-created contemporary dance pieces from their Dance Collective, including solos and ensemble works for everyone to enjoy, in various locations including Derby Market Hall.

The Festé programme is highly accessible to audience members with additional needs, with many performances completely non-verbal and some featuring British Sign Language and Makaton.

As if all this wasn’t enough, the fun doesn’t stop with the main programme. Check out the Derby Festé Fringe with a series of events presented by our cultural partners, which will keep the entertainment going into the evening, including sounds of Northern Soul and Motown with Soul Sunset at Derby Market Hall.

Full details of the Festé programme, including more detail on the performances, times and locations, are available on the Derby Festé website, and guides will be available on the day. Most performances are suitable for all ages, while some are better for older children – you can check on the website. Look out for Derby Festé on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.