CQ Saturdays Street Circus Set To Top the Bill in Cathedral Quarter

CQ Saturdays Street Circus returns to Derby’s Cathedral Quarter on Saturday May 14 with a day of free entertainment at the Waterfall stage in the Market Place.

The Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) has again teamed up with outdoor performance specialists Déda Producing for the entertainment which will be held on the second Saturday of every month in the run up to Derby Festé in September (Friday September 23 and Saturday September 24).

CQ Saturdays Street Circus will take place between 11am and 3pm and will be compered by Angus McLeod – a performer with his own special brand of fire juggling, uni-cycling and comedy.  He will be joined on May 14 by Finnish Hula Hoop and hand-balancing performer Tiina Tuo Misto as well as Danish acrobat Jonathan Bendtsen. Further circus and street arts performers will also be performing over the coming months.

Stephen Munn is Director of Déda Producing, which is part of regional dance house Déda in Chapel Street, and is the artistic lead of Derby Festé. He explained: “Déda is based in the Cathedral Quarter and we are particularly delighted to be working with the Business Improvement District to support its efforts to increase footfall to the area and to local businesses. “The feedback from visitors to the Cathedral Quarter was that the entertainment created a Covent Garden feel to the area and a real vibrancy to the streets. “CQ Saturdays Street Circus is also the perfect appetiser for the tenth Derby Festé which will return to the city this September. “Every year Derby Festé attracts huge crowds to the city and to the Cathedral Quarter in particular where high quality street entertainment is enjoyed by all.

“Investment in our studios at Déda in Chapel Street has enabled us to launch a very successful circus and aerial skills class programme for both adults and young people. “This has engaged with the real public appetite for this exciting art form, and it is brilliant that we can showcase our expertise at the free CQ Saturdays Street Circus events in the Cathedral Quarter.”

Martin Langsdale, chair of the Cathedral Quarter Management Group, which drives forward activities under the area’s Business Improvement District status, explained: “Derby is establishing a national reputation as a city of festivals and the Cathedral Quarter has always been at the heart of the major event and entertainment programmes organised in the city. “Nowadays people expect city and town centres to be more than just retail destinations and we are working hard to bring together a wide range of partner organisations to give visitors different reasons to come to the Cathedral Quarter at the weekend whatever their interests, and then explore the area and visit the businesses here.”

The free CQ Saturdays Street Circus events join an already busy monthly programme of events and entertainment in the area. Information about all the events in the Cathedral Quarter are available at www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk; on Twitter @DerbyCQ and Facebook CathedralQuarterDerby

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