High octane festival offering 'The Full Shebang a 'roaring success' in Mansfield

Crowds flocked to see jaw-dropping parkour acts, high-rise acrobatics, a man that leaked water, and a host of colourful walkabout characters at The Full Shebang Festival in Mansfield town centre.

The festival was first held in 2019, but missed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, before returning on Saturday.

But, despite the gap, the one day family festival again proved to be another ‘roaring success.’

Performances took place in the Market Place, by the Buttercross and in Four Seasons Shopping Centre, as well as at Mansfield Museum and on Leeming Street, West Gate and Regent Street.

The event brought together national and international artists with local talent for a jammed-packed line-up of outdoor performances with entertainment, fun activities and live music.

Kate Learmouth, from festival organiser First Art, said "It was a great success. We thought it might be smaller this year, but it was just as big as in 2019, and just as well received, it was really great. The place was buzzing.

“The turn out by the public was fantastic. We started at 10.30am, and the streets were already filling with people looking forward to the day’s entertainment, everyone loved it.”

‘Positive impact’

One attraction, a performance by On Edge, called Justice in Motion, was a parkour theatre piece, which attracted about 600 people alone.

There was also workshops in the Four Seasons and Mansfield Museum, about 100 people took part in an animation event and the Giant Doodle saw 100 people have a ‘quick portrait’ taken in an event by Emily Catherine of the Dizzy Ink Workshops, which also ran heat-press printing workshops.

A circus skills workshop was also very popular.

Kate said: “The whole festival had a really positive impact on the town, and we were lucky that the rain held off.”

The free one-day festival was produced by arts charity First Art and supported by Without Walls’ Touring Network Partnership and Mansfield District Council.

Karl Greenwood, First Art’s Director said: “We were delighted to be able to bring The Full Shebang back to Mansfield.”

The festival now asks people who attended to give their feedback at surveymonkey.co.uk/r/fullshebang21

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