Brighton Festival is back in town this weekend

The council has once again partnered with Brighton Festival to bring innovative pop-up theatre performances from outdoor arts experts, Without Walls, to Queens Square and Memorial Gardens, featuring three uplifting shows from theatre companies based across the UK featuring circus, aerial dance, hip hop and live bird watching.

• HUG by Levantes Dance Theatre - 12.45 and 3pm in Queens Square, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May: HUG is a new vibrant outdoor contemporary circus theatre performance and living installation that promises to engage audiences in a unique exploration of relationships - between people, objects and the environment that surrounds us. Through a fusion of aerial dance, physical theatre and striking visuals audiences are invited to rediscover the power of touch, connection and the simple act of a hug. Performers will fly, bend, flip, contort, suspend, climb and balance on a set resembling of a giant HUG.

• Go Grandad, go! by Company DHW - 12pm and 2.15pm in Queens Square, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May, a touch tour for people with visual disabilities get to feel the set and costumes on Saturday at 11.30am and Sunday at 1.45pm: Go Grandad, go! is a heart-warming inter-generational family story embedded in love, presenting new ways of understanding each other, sparking conversations about upbringing, culture and redefining generational relationships. Lead by Dani Harris-Walters, Company DHW is a Hip-Hop Theatre company with community, relatability and inclusivity at the forefront of their work.

• The Hide by Tilly Ingram Theatre – 11am, 1.30pm and 3.45pm in Memorial Gardens, Saturday 24 May and Sunday 25 May: The Hide is a live birdwatching experience, led by artist Tilly Ingram. Tilly shares her love of birdwatching, her struggles as a woman with a non-visible disability and the story of a disabled white-tailed eagle. Whilst looking for birds, we can also stop and think about how we look at nature and how we look at people. The piece asks the audience to enter the space, and while using the binoculars and spotters card provided, remember that there is more than what they cannot see. This performance is audio described. There is limited capacity so arrive 10 minutes prior to start time is encouraged to collect headsets and binoculars.

Councillor Sue Mullins, Cabinet member for Community Engagement and Culture at Crawley Borough Council, said: “We are thrilled to once again have the Brighton Festival here for a whole weekend. It is a fantastic event for all the family to enjoy so come along and join in the fun.”