Outdoor Arts at Just So Festival 2017

Gemma Gibb, Associate Editor

Book now

Just So Festival

18-20 August 2017

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Book now

Just So Festival (as part of the acclaimed Without Walls and Northern Festivals Networks) is annually one of the best places in the UK to see the finest new boundary breaking outdoor arts for families.

Our top picks include Matthew Harrison’s The Actual Reality Arcade – a life-sized interactive game zone for all ages, inspired by classic arcade games and the intimate experience of Theatre For One from Horse & Bamboo.

We can’t wait to get involved with The Jukeboxes from Bootworks Theatre – a live re-creation of classic pop videos, spot Wilford, a “rockabilly tree planting anarch-nomad” in Seed, the brand new show from Pif-Paf and explore Unlimited Theatre’s Space Shed in How I Hacked My Way To Space to be inspired by how small people can achieve big dreams.

Contemporary circus and theatre company Dizzy O’Dare  will be presenting Baba Yaga’s House – a ramshackle old cottage which roams the land on chicken legs while Baba flies in her giant pestle and mortar.  We have heard that she will either tell our fortune or eat us.

Seed. Courtesy Pif Paf

We love that the tiniest of festivalgoers have been considered with new performance The Adventures of Snigel – a bubble-loving snail who will be based in the Peekaboo Garden by artist and choreographer Caroline Bowditch and Flit Flap Fly by Fine Chisel – learn birdsong and get ready to take flight for the first time.

Our last pick is to take time out to walk through Between Stillness and Storm, a newly commissioned,  large-scale sculptural installation by artists Aiden Moesby and Tim Shaw. Situated by the stunning Rode Pool,  experience changing sound, light and motion made by a range of historic and contemporary instruments for “sensing” the weather.

Where to go near Outdoor Arts at Just So Festival 2017

Castlefield
Restaurant
Trading Route

Trading Route serves up time-honoured Sunday grub, in a modern Manchester setting. Worth a visit for the expertly-curated soundtrack alone.

Side view of mixed race business colleagues sitting and watching presentation with audience and clapping hands
Theatre
Burnley Youth Theatre

Burnley Youth Theatre is a vibrant youth arts organisation based at our purpose built venue in Burnley, Pennine Lancashire.

Bar pub 3
Leeds
Restaurant
Arcadia Ale House

Arcadia Ale house is a sports bar located in the Headingly area of Leeds with a range of drinks offers throughout the week.

Restaurant
Leeds
Restaurant
Pasta Romagna

Pasta Romagna is a family owned, independent restaurant in the heart of the city centre. Bringing you homestyle Italian cuisine since 1982.

wine bar 2
Leeds
Restaurant
Farrands

Farrands is an independent bar located in the heart of Leeds city centre, specialising in a range of fine wine, beer and specialist cocktails.

Restaurant
Leeds
Shop
George and Joseph Cheesemongers

George and Joseph is Leeds’ only specialist cheesemongers, serving some of the city’s best cheese from its home in Chapel Allerton since 2013

Wine bar
Leeds
Restaurant
Wayward Wines

Selling natural wines since before it was cool (well, 2017), this tiny suburban wine house is so much more than just a bar.

Beer shop
Leeds
Shop
Caspar’s Bottle Shop

Independent craft beer and spirits den Caspars Bottle Shop is a quirky Chapel Allerton favourite that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Dry Dock
Leeds
Restaurant
Dry Dock

Dry Dock has carved out a reputation as a fixture for students and locals alike over the last thirty plus years

Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Rat & Pigeon

A slice of alternative Manchester in pub form, down a grotty, gritty backstreet and with a disgusting name. What’s not to love?

What's on: Families

Culture Guides

Fatoumata Diawara by Alun Be.
Music

This month’s live music picks move between ambitious new work, grassroots celebrations and a few memorable settings.

Food and Drink in the North

Spring has arrived, bringing with it al fresco dining and a rush of high-profile food and drink-related events in Manchester.

A pair of white angel wings displayed against a dark, black background. The lower parts of the wings are stained with vivid red, resembling blood splatter.
Theatre

This month’s theatre highlights span dystopian classics, political thrillers and bold new opera.

Ceramic Sculpture
Exhibitions

Across Manchester and Salford, exhibitions are thinking hard about how things are made – and how materials carry stories.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.