The streets of the Medway towns will be turned into art exhibits as the Fuse Medway Festival takes over. Chris Price reports.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the Fuse Medway Festival, which takes place from Friday, June 17, to Sunday, June 19.

There will also be a week of preparations and festivities leading up to Fuse – including a local commission called Grayscale World, which will turn Rochester’s High Street into a surreal, monochrome world.

The free event will begin on the Friday afternoon with the illumination parade in Gillingham.

Saturday will be packed with an afternoon of street arts in Chatham, followed by an event in Rochester Castle which will end in a pyrotechnic display.

The festival will round off with a quirky tea party in Rochester Castle Gardens on Sunday and a special performance of Alice in Wonderland on Rochester Castle Moat.

The Saturday Night Spectacular at Rochester Castle is a new venture for this year. The entertainment will involve a team of acrobats creating the illusion of flying.

The show called The Heliosphere sees an acrobat spiral and spin, seemingly weightless, beneath a helium balloon above the audience. Another show called The Diamond sees a performer dance high inside an enormous air-filled crystalline structure, which unfolds before the crowd’s eyes like a huge flower.

The evening is rounded off by Kent pyrotechnic specialists The World Famous.

Download the full programme at www.fusefestival.org.uk or call 01634 338319.

Shows to look out for

Lighting the Fuse - Monday, June 13 to Thursday, June 16

The Grayscale World installation runs events on each of the days leading up to the festival on Rochester High Street. The art celebrates the colour grey: presented by Moogie Wonderland, Medway’s architecture, industrial sites and public areas are transformed.

Illumination Parade - Friday, June 17, from 4.30pm

Leaving from Gillingham High Street, the parade will be led by lifesize illuminated silver puppets called Sparky Champion and Magma Eternal.

Chatham Street Arts - Saturday, June 18, from noon to 5pm

The Floor Crusaders take to the High Street, with their fresh moves and live beats. They are the winners of the south-west Bboy championships and are Battle Jam and Urban Games finalists.

My Secret Garden - Sunday, June 19, from noon to 5pm

This show is presented by Roustabout Theatre at Rochester Castle Gardens. Audiences will enter a secret garden that can only be reached through a door that has been hidden. The abandoned garden can be brought back to life, if watchers dig deep in the earth and uncover the treasures. This is a magical, muddy adventure.

Artistic boss with global CV

The whacky and colourful celebrations of this year’s Fuse Festival have come about thanks to a new arts director.

Lelia Greci has worked all over the world and now she’s in Medway to lead this year’s Fuse Festival.

Leila, who grew up in Le Mans, France, is looking forward to taking Fuse to new heights.

She has previously worked in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, South America, Africa, India and south east Asia, as well as in this country on the Manchester Festival.

Lelia said: “I’m very excited about Fuse as it is a great festival, which gets better and better every year. It is also a festival that is still evolving and seeing more and more people participating.

“It’s a fantastic line-up this year, with some really high quality performances and opportunities to get involved.

“I have three main ambitions for Fuse; to strengthen its identity so the festival can develop consistently and harmoniously; to raise its profile, regionally, nationally and internationally; and to root it firmly within its communities.”