Just So Festival reveals new areas, performances and experiences

Just So Festival which returns to Rode Hall Estate, Scholar Green, Cheshire, over the weekend of Friday 18th until Sunday 20th August 2017 has revealed 3 new areas and announced lots of new artists, performances and experiences

Just So Festival has a love of stories and childhood escapades at its heart, and enables families to step out of their day to day lives and into a wonderland of world class literature, arts, theatre, dance, music, comedy and creative pursuits together. Underpinned by the Tribal Tournament, the most bonkers competition in the land, it takes audiences (from bumps to great grandparents) on a unique expedition of mischief and mayhem, to lands full of magical midnight feasts, curious creatures, raucous pillow fights, hidden retreats, top notch food, drink and boutique camping options and breathtaking beauty.

New for 2017 is the lakeside Silver Screen glade area dedicated to all things cinematic. Recreate famous dance scenes from favourite flicks, join a musical chorus line, become extras in a Just So epic production, try live drawing scenes and get ready for Hollywood with film star styling. Expect music, theatre dance and circus all themed around the big screen and the completely competitive Just So Film Quiz. Bring a blanket while night falls to the beautiful outdoor cinema here and snuggle up to watch silent movies and family classics together. 

The new Social Barn is a completely crackers celebration of fodder. Located next to The Social (with its array of artisan food and drink) expect insect eating, foraging, the inaugural Just So jelly fight,  peculiar picnics, barmy dinner parties, a food funny face challenge, the famous Just So Midnight Feast and The Great Just So Bake Off.

Also new  is the Forgotten Courtyard, tucked away in the ruins of the Old Tenants’ Hall is Rode’s beautiful Italian Garden. Expect to stretch your knowledge of the world around you and take part in workshops, provocations, debates and talks. Experience soundscapes and spoken word events here against the backdrop of the beautiful fountain, Italian cypress and olive trees.  

The 2017 programme includes the Spellbound Forest with new shows Baba Yaga’s House by contemporary circus and theatre company  Dizzy O’Dare and Matthew Harrison’s The Actual Reality Arcade. Experience the Theatre For One from Horse & Bamboo, tales from storyteller Ian Douglas, and tickle your senses further with a new Sound Garden and Barefoot Walk experience. There's also campfire tales, music and songs as dusk falls and the woodland magic really begins.

In the Woodland Theatre award-winning performance poet Joseph Coelho will reveal the mysterious rules of The Werewolf Club, how to look like a rainbow and how to fold up your gran.  Laugh at a new show from comedian James Campbell and learn birdsong and get ready to take flight for the first time in Flit Flap Fly by Fine Chisel.

Adventure into Tales of Animalia to encounter lands, creatures and characters beyond your wildest dreams from the strange imaginations of our friends The Fabularium. Deep within the forest find Away With The Fairies, an enchanting secret fairyland. Find it to visit the Fairy City, spy sprites making mischief up in the trees and meet the Fairy Queen.

At the Village Green meet some of the UK’s favourite children’s authors sharing the best new books out this year. See new show The Jukeboxes from Bootworks Theatre and meet Wilford, a rockabilly tree planting anarch-nomad in Seed, the brand new show from Pif-Paf. Keep your eyes peeled for a tandem and Random Acts of Kindness, an interactive dance show like no other by Them Two Dance. Head to the new, glorious Games Tent, do a spot of Maypole dancing and hone your circus skills on the Green too. Visit the special Just So Post Office - send a letter to a new pen pal at Just So Brasil.

The Village Green is also the nerve centre of the Tribal Tournament and where festivalgoers can encounter a sports day with a difference - toddler jousting or pillow fighting anyone? Throughout the festival join the Fox, Frog, Owl, Fish, Stag or Lion tribes to compete in ridiculous games and all manner of unexpected shenanigans to earn coveted golden pebbles. Find your tribe on festival Sunday and take part in the Tribal Parade, a Just So highlight.

Dance to the line-up of over 20 artists and bands on the Footlights stage including the UK’s current award-winning queen of country music Laura Oakes, the carnivalesque Bramble Napskins, and the Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band. Don’t miss footstomping to the marvellous The Baghdaddies and Cut A Shine here too. Do some more wild whirling and swirling at Jitterbug where more unmissable music and dance performances and workshops include CanCan, Charleston, Circus Swing, Flatfooting, Bollywood, Ballet, Tap and Jive.  When evening comes, dance the night away at the DISCO here too.

Contemplate the universe at The Observatory with brand new performance How I Hacked My Way To Space by Unlimited Theatre and be wowed by Spanish contemporary trampoline circus show Anyday by Max Calaf Seve.  Learn about the constellations with Star Gazing sessions led by an astronomer, play Eye Spy in Space game weave stars for Woollen Constellations to form a tapestry of beautiful stars lit up at night and make an array of star and moon shaped lanterns to parade against the twilight sky.

Head to The Peekaboo Garden for the best arts for the tiniest visitors - an entire area of innovative performances, activities and right royal facilities for 0-4s. Look out for the curious bubble-loving snail Snigel in brand new inspirational performance The Adventures of Snigel. Music, paint, clay, dens and bubbles, baby book club and baby bath time here will ensure the littlies doze off to the sound of our choral lullabies as dusk falls.

Make your way to the calming High Seas on the Left Bank of the stunning Rode Pool lake for relaxation galore. Walk through Between Stillness and Storm, a newly commissioned, mesmerising, large-scale sculptural installation by renowned artists Aiden Moesby and Tim Shaw and experience changing sound, light and motion made by a range of historic and contemporary instruments for “sensing” the weather.  Enjoy family yoga, tai chi, meditation and take a wooden rowing boat out on to the tranquil expanse of water. Look out for some fishy and feisty mermaids here too!

Just So is set in woodland clearings, rolling parkland, arboreal amphitheatres and lakeside spots in the Rode Hall Estate, Cheshire, one of the most stunning landscapes in the UK, with limited public access the rest of the year.

 A not-for-profit arts festival, the ticket price includes all entertainment and programming across the festival site, with capacity capped at 5000 to ensure a magical, relaxing and safe environment for all. Rowan Hoban and Sarah Bird, Directors of Wild Rumpus who produce large scale immersive outdoor family arts events in natural landscapes, set up Just So Festival in 2009 to create a spellbinding weekend where families could step out of their day to day lives, be immersed in incredible stories and moments of wonder together, and experience world class, breathtaking outdoor arts.

Families planning to come to Just So 2017 are being advised to buy tickets earlier than usual this year, with tickets selling at a record rate for the 5000 capacity August event. 

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Tickets are £130 for an adult weekend camping ticket, £50 for a child weekend camping ticket, £80 for an adult 2 day ticket, £30 for a child 2 day ticket, £50 for an adult day ticket and £20 for a child day ticket. Under 3’s go free. Local residents are eligible for a £5 discount.

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