Rhythm Festivals 2012 will have lots and lots to do for the whole family, including…

Kids: The Panic Circus

After more than 20 years of being around and around (& round), Prof. Panic presents the Panic Family Circus: “We are a non-animal new-circus-clown-theatre outfit steeped in the continuously evolving tradition of travelling circus.” Panic Circus present a full programme of children’s activities at Rhythm Festival. Working from their colourful red-green-gold big-top, look out for a varied programme of performances, workshops and activities. These will include circus shows, circus workshops, puppet shows, puppet workshops, storytelling, bubble fun games sessions and loads more, incluidng: Punch & Judy The Panic take on the traditional Punch show is performed in traditional static booth and in the unique “Walking Booth” . Circus Skills Workshops! Circus Clown Theatre Shows: classic three man clown troupe (no scary faces though!)…giant puppets and clown mayhem. Storytelling from the ‘Coat of 100 Pockets’ : every pocket holds a treasure, every treasure tells a story, Celtic, traveller and World stories gathered on the Professor’s travels. Puppet Shows Traditional tales told in a new way. Shows are constantly evolving and are new every year! Shadow Puppet Shows We have a repertoire of shadow shows suitable for children of all ages!

Kids: Junior Olympics & Football Tournaments

Organised games and sporting activities from 10am on Saturday morning onwards, let your kids release their steam whilst you relax. The Junior Olympics have been co-ordinated and organised since the very first Rhythm Festival  by Steve Stredwick, a teacher and athlete with Wellingborough and DAC, who is county representative for Sportshall and who was recently nominated for Coach of the Year at the Athletics Awards. Your kids are in safe hands, they can keep fit and have great fun. And there are no losers!

Kids of All Ages: The Pirate Fairies

Ahoy there me Hearties! The Pirate Fairies have a barrel of lost and stolen laughs and they are on a mission to return them to their rightful owners. Do you have a laugh? Can they check it? Laugh down the tube, into the barrel, and the barrel will check your laugh. If all is well, your laugh will resound loud and clear from the depths of the barrel and you will be awarded a ‘Laughter Checked’ sticker. Should you need something to make you laugh, they will tell you their best joke: Why are pirates called pirates? Because they aaarrrggghh!…dance crazily, hit each other with fish and attempt all manner of piratical larks and fairy magic. If, however, all this fails to raise a chuckle, you have truly lost your laugh and they will happily give you one from their barrel.

Kids of All Ages: Groovy Movie Picture Show

The original solar-powered cinema will present a varied programme of cinematic treats for children during the mornings and early part of the day, for everyone in the afternoons and for grown-ups at night. The Groovy Movie Picture House’s innovation goes right down to their power source. All of their electricity is generated “on location” by an array of solar panels. This gives them clean, green and silent energy. It lowers their carbon footprint, boosts the environmental profile of Rhythm Festival and provides a fun and inspiring demonstration of Green Technology in action.The Groovy Movie Solar Cinema is entertaining, educational and environmental. For copyright reasons, the programme cannot be advertised in advance, but will be available on boards every day outside the cinema and (hopefully) in the Rhythm Festival programme.

Deejay Wheelie Bag (& the Electric Dancing Girls)

Hemlock Morris

Young Morris Dancers?! Girl Morris Dancers?!! How can this be? The answer is Bedford’s own Hemlock Morris, Britain’s Finest, Freakiest Alternative Morris Side, who (in accord with ancient tradition) attend Rhythm Festival on Saturdays and Sundays, since time immemorial. Born through the desire of a group of young women in Bedford wishing to dance morris dances, Hemlock Morris brings a new lease of life to an age-old tradition. Media hype would have you believe Morris Dancing in any form will be extinct in 20 years – well, not in Bedfordshire! With new members joining all the time, Hemlock Morris has gone from strength to strength, with a number of spots at significant festivals and events, during which we raised many hundreds of pounds for charity. Hemlock Morris has attracted a predominantly younger members than your stereotypical Morris Dances side. Perhaps it’s the ‘alternative’ painted faces or gothic-style apparel; either way, we like to think that our take on traditional dances bring a breath of fresh air to what many people regard as an out of date tradition, and that their enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment of what they do brings a smile to the faces of those who witness them.

Kids of All Ages: Lots More Stuff, Coming Soon…