ESSEXstreetdiversions

ESSEXstreetdiversions returned for 2009 with the big and bizarre showcase taking over Chelmsford Town Centre on 26th September. This unique, free festival of international outdoor performance brought many more surprises this year!

ESSEXstreetdiversions is a unique free festival of international outdoor performance and the largest event of its kind in the Eastern region. In 2008, the big and bizarre showcase returned to Chelmsford Town Centre for the sixth year running with 73 performances all packed into one weekend!

On Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 June Chelmsford town centre was overrun with strange creatures and bizarre happenings as Chelmsford Borough Council's Special Events Team presented their fifth free international street theatre festival, ESSEXstreetdiversions. The festival was opened by the Natural Theatre Company's Coneheads, who amused and bemused large audiences throughout the town centre, whilst being pursued by a huge crowd of fans that had eagerly awaited their appearance.

streetdiversions is an unique annual showcase of international street theatre for the Eastern region that began in 2003 and is produced and managed by the Chelmsford Borough Council Special Events Team. In 2006, with support from INSITE (a partnership of all Local Authorities and Arts Council England East), the event became ESSEXstreetdiversions as it embarked on a three-day tour across the county before returning home for a further three-day festival in Chelmsford including a magnificent one-off Twilight Spectacle.

In 2005, streetdiversions consisted of nearly 100 free daylight performances in Chelmsford town centre by artists from the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Canada and the United States.