Hat Fair celebrates its roots this summer!

Hat Fair – the UK’s longest running festival of Outdoor Arts – is back for another summer, this year on Saturday 5 July.

The event, which celebrated its 50th birthday last year, returns to Winchester city centre, to take over its historical streets and green spaces with the same bold street theatre, circus, music, dance and more that it has become so popular for, with audiences of all ages.

The festival will take place on Saturday 5 July and promises to be as joyous as ever, reminiscing on its early years and returning to its 1974 roots as a hatting event – when a ‘hatter’ or performer holds out a hat following their performance to collect donations from the audience; from which Hat Fair takes its name.

The hatters at this year’s event – who bring the best clowning, magic, physical comedy, acrobatics and more to the streets, and encourage plenty of audience participation – include Frenetic Engineering’s Anabelle Holland with her family-friendly knife-throwing show; Juribonke – who are three performers from Austria, Kyrgyzstan and Basque country, who perform breath-taking acrobatics; Rudkin and Hicks, who appear as workmen Tony and Ray and indulge in dancing and mucking about with tools; George Orange – an eccentric clown and slack-rope dancer; and UK African Acrobats who present fun acrobatics and circus.

There will be shows from Fafá Franco with Sienta la Cabeza – a surreal hairdressing salon where two daring hairdressers transform audience members’ hair into funky sculptures; The Last Baguette theatre company presents Bin Rat – an interactive theatre and puppetry show exploring what happens to litter; and Joli Vyann perform Life’s A Beach – a fun and playful look at a day at the beach, with darker undertones around sewage and antisocial behaviour. Plus, audiences can enjoy walkabout performances from Hong Kong’s TS Crew – with Prototyping, which blends physical theatre and martial arts with dance and circus to explore finding one’s home; Animate Puppet Co. presents Migration, featuring Bella the elephant puppet – operated by three highly-skilled puppeteers – and with drop-in puppet making sessions to follow; while The Natural Theatre Company performs Austen’s Lost & Found – an immersive show about a lost manuscript revealing familiar plots and characters.

 Hat Fair also provides a platform for celebrating local, young and diverse communities and the Playmakers Youth Theatre groups will return with a number of shows exploring the theme of sanctuary, safe spaces and connection. The Playmakers Top Hat competition, which showcases outdoor work by students and recent graduates of the University of Winchester, is back – with last year’s winners, Truth Be Told Theatre Company performing their show, Shrewish Women too. There will also be performances from local singers and choirs such as Winchester Rock Choir; dance troupes including Liberate Dance – an exclusively wheelchair-based dance group; music from the likes of drumming and movement band, Swan Samba; theatre from the likes of Blue Apple – who work with performers with learning disabilities – featuring last year’s giant Jane Austen puppet; and community groups showcasing their own cultures including 432 Nomads – bringing traditional South American culture to the city, with dance, poetry, and music. Plus, Harvey Juggling is one of Hat Fair’s emerging talents – a young street performer who started at six and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and become an iconic figure in London’s Covent Garden.

Children’s entertainer Juggling Jake’s iconic red and yellow star tent is back – with circus equipment ready for younger audiences to have a go with; plus, there’s crazy golf for all; stalls to browse; and food and drink vendors.

Audiences can also try their hand at tickling the ivories with a piano that is free and available to use throughout the day at Reform Church on Jewry Street.

Plus, on Friday 04 July – the night before the festival – the Hat Fair Community Celebration at Theatre Royal Winchester will be packed with music, dance and spoken word, exploring the themes of sanctuary, safe spaces and connection, and performed by a number of local community groups.

Hat Fair Director, Andrew Loretto, said: “I’m looking forward to staging an exciting mix of local, national and international Outdoor Arts once again on the streets and spaces of Winchester City Centre for Hat Fair 2025. It may be a smaller festival this year, but I hope the programme will delight and surprise our audiences with dynamic site-specific dance from Hong Kong artists in residence, TS Crew, through to a giant puppet walkabout Bella the Elephant from Animate.

“Audiences can enjoy a comedy tour of Winchester with Austen’s Lost & Found to tie in with the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and celebrate how Life’s a Beach with Hat Fair dance/acrobatic favourites, Joli Vyann, plus, local voices, which they have used to create the work; and don’t miss the fabulous chance to glam up beyond your dreams and become a walking work of art with Fafa Franco and La Sienta la Cabeza Show from Barcelona – hairstyles like you’ve never imagined!

‘This is alongside a fantastic programme of international hatters, and a full programme from diverse local artists, students and young people. Hat Fair 2025 will offer an eclectic and joyous range of performances!”

For more information visit www.hatfair.co.uk.