Lakes Alive is taking a giant street party on the road around Cumbria this summer with the entertainment provided by some of the country’s best street artists. The Banquet runs from 26-30 July at Talkin Tarn, Millom, Cleator Moor, Workington and Appleby. 
 
Tables and chairs will be laid out and the audience are encouraged to bring or buy food and drink and join in a huge community spirited picnic, whilst being entertained by anything from talking bushes to comedy tennis matches and giant beasts.
 
Lakes Alive is created and directed by Kendal Arts International (KAI) with Manchester International Arts.  Julie Tait, the director of KAI, says: “The Banquet is a great opportunity for communities to come together and enjoy some great entertainment as well as each other’s company. We’ve lined up a series of very talented and entertaining acts that will make these very special evenings.”
 
A mixture of static and walkabout acts will be adding to the fun, with comedy and astonishingly inventive circus skills. Anyone For Tennis from the Fairly Famous Family brings Wimbledon to the streets, with a hilarious and gripping one set match complete with one highly strung player and even ‘slow motion’ replays.
 
Sports Day, from the Bread and Butter Theatre Company, sees the firm but fair and stuck in the ‘80s PE teachers Mr Stretch and Mr Armstrong desperately trying to get the nation fit for the 2012 Olympics with the ‘help’ of a roving musical pommel horse.
 
Puppets with Guts bring a touch of the exotic to Cumbria, with their Roving Rhinosecrotes causing primordial chaos. After escaping an unknown prehistoric era, the beasts do battle, perform amusing mating dances, and chew their way through anything they think might be tasty.
 
Less exotic, but no less thrilling, Ric Taylor’s The Chairs of Doom involves not only juggling fire, but juggling fire on a pole, on one leg, and on 6 rickety chairs. About twenty acts will be keeping the party swinging, and local catering will be available for those that don’t want to bring their own food.
 
The Banquet will take place from 6pm to 9pm at Talkin Tarn in Brampton on July 26th, Millom on July 27th, Cleator Moor on July 28th, West Lakes College near Workington on July 29th, and Appleby on July 30th. For further details visit www.lakesalive.org.
 
Lakes Alive is one of three annual programmes commissioned for WE PLAY, the Northwest cultural legacy programme for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.  WE PLAY is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games. The project is led by the Arts Council England Northwest on behalf of a new regional partnership. Lakes Alive is sponsored by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and has also received funding from Arts Council England and the Northern Rock Foundation.