Limbo to headline fifth arts festival

This award-winning hit show LIMBO will be performed at the Harcourts Hawke's Bay Arts festival.

The Harcourts Hawke's Bay Arts festival will be five this October and as part of an incredible line-up of performances, we are delighted to announce LIMBO as the headline show for the 2019 Festival.

The LIMBO season, sponsored by NZME, will be presented in the magnificent Victoria Spiegeltent on a 360-degree centre stage, giving an intimate experience of fire-breathing, wince-inducing contortion, sword-swallowing, beatboxing, pole-scaling, magic and more.

This award-winning hit show has been performed more than1000 times in 12 countries from London to Munich, Sydney to Adelaide, Bogata to Brussels and will open the Festival on October 15 and runs for five nights.

Time Out London, said LIMBO was "an irresistible cocktail of circus skills, live music and sexy humour".

Festival director for the Harcourts Hawke's Bay Arts Festival Pitsch Leiser said they were excited to bring a show of this calibre to Hawke's Bay as part of the Festival.

"It is a show that has a very broad appeal and is great for those that love circus, cabaret, acrobatics along with an incredible band who play original live music. It's a show that you want to gather a group of friends, come as a workplace night out or just a sensational fun night with your other half."

The Victoria Spiegeltent has travelled the world for nearly 90 years and is an ornate Spiegeltent, named Victoria by the family that built it in 1930.

Featuring wood panels, stained glass windows and a bar, this is a larger tent than in previous years and will be the main performance venue for the Harcourts Hawke's Bay Arts Festival in October and will be situated on the Village Green in Havelock North.

Rik Klessens said the tent was built by his grandparents in 1930. They established the company in 1920 and toured Belgium, using the spiegeltent as a portable dance hall.

"It would travel from fair to fair. My grandfather towed it with two horses," he said.

The Klessens' family business has seen spiegeltents change from travelling circus and dance hall venues in central Europe, to popular hubs for festivals around the world.

For more information and tickets, go to www.hbaf.co.nz or visit any of the i-SITES in Hawke's Bay.