First birthday spectacular planned for The Glass Works in Barnsley

Dancers, circus performers, brass bands and acrobats will deliver a day of spectacular live performances as part of Barnsley Civic’s Garden Party and to celebrate the first anniversary of The Glass Works in Barnsley on 10 September.

Barnsley Garden Party, a free family event, is a joint initiative between Barnsley Council and multi-purpose arts centre Barnsley Civic – with the annual garden party adding The Glass Works Square to the Mandela Gardens site and Cheapside to mark the first birthday.

The headline performance in the public square will see acrobats captivate the crowds by balancing on, and inside, a rotating seven-metre-high hourglass.

Elsewhere, the festival includes a performance inspired by the brief life of the Mayfly, which sees a custom-engineered structure incorporating five fountains shoot water into the air in sync with two awe-inspiring dancers.

Houdini-style escape artists will be performing stunts, illusions and great comic routines. Back Chat Brass, a fusion of brassy pop, funk and hip hop beats, help the festival kick off at 11am in The Glass Works Square. They’ll perform again later in the day and will also bring their unique sound to Cheapside.

Barnsley Civic’s CEO Anthony Baker said: “Barnsley Garden Party will bring some of the UK’s best street performers to our town centre. There promises to be something for all ages and best of all, the entire festival is free to attend.”

Cllr Robert Frost, Cabinet Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, added: “To celebrate a fabulous first year for The Glass Works, we’ve partnered with Barnsley Civic’s Garden Party to deliver first-class street theatre and entertainment. The whole town centre will be alive with music and entertainment and we’re seeing just how versatile the new public square can be. It’s a real hit with the locals and is a splendid venue for live entertainment.”

The Glass Works continues to grow and over the last 12 months has added TK Maxx, Next, Nando’s, New Look, River Island and Superbowl UK. There are more exciting brands coming soon too, with the likes of The Botanist, Fridays and Flannels currently being fitted out.

Next month, Barnsley’s new town centre takes a further leap forward as the 13-screen Cineworld is still due to open its doors on 23 September ahead of several major autumn blockbusters. The venue, which also houses a Starbucks, features the very latest industry technology, including the highly anticipated 4DX extreme cinema experience.

“In the past year The Glass Works has gone from strength to strength and footfall figures are very impressive”, continued Cllr Frost.

“We’re consistently named in the Top 10 UK towns for footfall and spend and there’s lots of reasons to visit Barnsley, not least for our brilliant, free entertainment.

“Our data tells us people are visiting from across the north of England as well as from across Barnsley. They’re blending a visit to our famous Barnsley Markets with trips to independent retailers and enjoying a great choice of food and drink against a backdrop of music, dance and art.”

In total, over five million people have visited The Glass Works since it opened one year ago. The summer holidays and outdoor events have proven particularly popular, with footfall for August forecasted to be over 500,000 visitors.