For the people of Woodford Folk Festival, circus, burlesque and vaudeville is very much alive. From the beginning of the festival to the end, you can find cabaret beasts, burlesque empresses, gypsy tune traders and obnoxious ranters, word wit and spine-tingling circus variety shows.
International cabaret empress and comedienne Bertie Page will be appearing at Woodfordia this year. She’s a powerhouse of creative energy across a number of disciplines, and is sure to charm crowds with her beauty and skill.
You might see the Gramophone Man, who could quite simply be described as the world’s first DJ. Using his cart and hand-cranked gramophones from the 1930’s, he wheels around bringing joy to festivillians through the resurrected sounds of the ’30’s, ’40’s and ’50’s.
Junk-yard waltzes, rambunctious jazz-punk tinkerings, romantic tomfoolery, circus skillery and a sweet selection of vaudeville, old-timey music and decadence from any era are set to trill and trumpet around the festival site. Flipside Circus and Betty and the Betties will be roaming the festival streets spreading the word.
Lost in Translation Circus mix high-level circus skills with theatre, narrative, movement and live music. The group is ready to share their visions with the guests of Woodfordia; a world of fun, acrobatics and laughter.
Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School, is set to pop-up too. It is the largest chain of avant-garde life-drawing sessions in the world, featuring cheeky, beautiful and very drawable burlesque and circus performers, ready for you to show your skill.
Woodford rolls out the red crash mat for tricks, toys and tonnes of fun. So if you like what you see, you can try your hand (and feet) at new skills inside a circus tent, with plenty of room out the back on the grass for fire-play at night.
Let your imagination take flight and delight in the dreams that Woodford makes real from the 27th of December to 1st of January.
Visit www.woodfordfolkfestival.com to view the 2012/13 programme.
