Night Market Adds to the Feast of Fun at Derby Festé
Derby’s popular Night Market by Sheena Holland will join the programme for the first night of this year’s Derby Festé in September.
Around 40 stalls feature locally produced arts, crafts, food and drink and vintage fayre will be in the Market Place and underneath the Guildhall arches between 5pm and 11.15pm on Friday September 23 with free entry. The Night Market attracted up to 20,000 visitors when it was held in the Cathedral Quarter streets last November and then 10,000 in March this year.
Organiser Sheena Holland explained: “I was delighted to be invited by the organisers of Derby Festé to add another element to the Friday night entertainment. “Derby Festé is a key date in the city’s cultural calendar and I hope the Night Market will attract even more people into the city centre to enjoy the whole evening.”
This year’s Derby Festé on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 September is the tenth to be held in the city with a packed programme of spectacular family entertainment featuring a host of top local, national and international artists and performers. Derby Festé first came to the city centre streets in September 2007 to mark the opening of the Westfield Derby shopping centre (now Intu Derby) and then, the following year, the opening of QUAD arts centre.
Derby Festé is produced and presented by Derby LIVE, Déda, QUAD and Derby Theatre in association with the Without Walls Associate Touring Network. It is funded by Arts Council England and Derby City Council, with sponsorship from St Peters Quarter, Cathedral Quarter, Intu Derby, Derby Riverlights and Park Farm Shopping Centre. The festival has grown in size and stature every year since then with thousands of people enjoying the spectacle of live daytime and evening performances by some of the best outdoor artists including those who come to Derby as part of their European tours. The fun starts on the evening of Friday September 23 with a performance of Carousel by the Southpaw Dance Company on Cathedral Green. The set is a fully functioning merry-go-round which provides the centre piece for an edgy story of the enigmatic characters who inhabit the fairground.
The headline act on Friday evening will be the return of the stunning giant fire-breathing Sarruga Dragons that took the city by storm at the first Festé in 2007. The Sarruga Dragons are giant robotic creatures created by world famous Catalonian street-arts company Sarruga who have performed across the world. The breath-taking parade will start at Derby Riverlights and wind its way through St Peters Quarter and the Cathedral Quarter before making a spectacular entrance to the Market Place.
From 9.45pm, the Market Place will then be transformed into a party space with The New York Brass Band and Alex Blood & the Diggers performing live on stage.
Then, on Saturday September 24, the Cathedral Quarter, St Peters Quarter and Intu Derby shopping centre will be a bustling hub of street entertainment featuring more than 20 different acts including dance, aerial performance, theatre, comedy and contemporary circus.
The People’s Stage in the Market place will also feature live music performances from all over the UK and a special Derby Festé commission of Tarzanna by Ilkeston-born aerial artist Ria Ashcroft and the Gramphones Theatre Company will make its debut performance at Derby Riverlights St Peters Quarter.
The climax of Derby Festé will see Derby’s Bass’ Recreation Ground transformed into a magical underwater spectacle on Saturday evening. French company Transe Express will bring its brand new outdoor performance MÚ which will be only its second performance in the UK. The atmospheric show will transport the crowds to a magic oceanic world. Colourful neon sea creatures elevated on a huge telescopic crane will cavort on the lit surface of the sea with the fish and other ocean dwellers weaving their way through the audience on the sea bed.
Derby Festé Artistic Director Stephen Munn, Director at regional dance house Déda explained: “In this, our tenth year, we wanted to ensure there was something for everyone to enjoy and create a real party atmosphere in the city centre. “The addition of the Night Market by Sheena Holland provides visitors with a feast of with stunning outdoor entertainment and now the finest local food and drink to enjoy as well as an eclectic mix of arts, crafts and vintage stalls.”
MÚ is Derby Festé’s only ticket event. Prices are £7 each and will be available to purchase online or via the Derby LIVE Box Office www.derbylive.co.uk
All the other performances are free of charge and the full programme is available to see at www.derbyfeste.com
For information about hiring a stall at the Night Market, please contact Sheena Holland info@sheenaholland.com