Last year The Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre’s 10th Anniversary BIG SPLASH was such a big hit, they are bringing it back this July – bigger and better than ever.
It’s actually the largest free outdoor arts festival in Wales attracting something like 20,000 plus visitors to the city. The Riverfront Theatre is over-joyed to be welcoming the return of the festival and can’t wait to welcome visitors from throughout South Wales and beyond.
You can take a look back at last years event in our review feature HERE.
The city will come alive as the festival will once again amaze, amuse and entertain locals and visitors of all ages with street theatre, live music, workshops and arts and craft activities, all of which can be enjoyed free of charge. Performances will pop up in several zones across the city centre including the river walkway, John Frost Square and Commercial Street as Newport is transformed into a large outdoor stage.
From giant, jumping kangaroos, grumpy unicorns, a weightlifting butterfly and a swimming slug, last year’s festival was a huge burst of colour and energy on the streets of Newport, leaving so many people wanting more. The feedback that The Riverfront received was immensely positive and showed how much the people of Newport and beyond enjoy the event.
Newport Live’s Director of Business Development, Andrea Ovey told us……
“We’re delighted to see the welcome return of the Big Splash for 2023, the team across the Riverfront and Newport Live continue to develop the festival, now the biggest of its kind in Wales, it’s a wonderful start to the official Summer Holiday period, and importantly has an immensely positive impact on the city and its communities, making theatre, arts and culture accessible and enjoyable for all.
There is also a hugely positive impact for city centre businesses across the weekend through the increased footfall the festival generates. A heartfelt thank you once again to the Arts Council of Wales for making the event possible, along with our commercial sponsors who provide much needed additional support.”
The event is the perfect day out for family and friends to watch, laugh, take part and be immersed within the entertainment. All activities and shows will be free to attend. Digital and printed programmes for the event will be released closer to the time so you can see who’s performing and on what stage.
As you can imagine it’s still early days and the team tell us that more information about the line-up will be released soon. We’ll bring you more as soon as we know, and you can keep an eye on The Riverfront’s website and social media accounts.
BIG SPLASH returns to Newport on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd July. The event has been made possible thanks to the generous funding from Arts Council Wales, Newport Live, Newport BID and Newport Transport. There are still sponsorship opportunities available for the festival this year. If you would like to get involved and sponsor the festival, you can email the team here – marketing@newportlive.co.uk.
