This year’s Basingstoke Festival might be drawing to an end but there are still lots of acts to enjoy across the borough before the curtain comes down.

As the festival celebrates its milestone 15^th year, visitors are invited to enjoy one last weekend of free entertainment, including giant puppets, circus spectacles, interactive adventures and family fun.

Taking centre stage on Saturday (4 July) at Eastrop Park, Hydropunk by Artizani is a multi-sensory interactive installation where performers and audiences can work together to create a spectacular water sculpture machine.  As leaks and spills happen, visitors will be challenged to help save 1,000 litres of precious water to keep the machine running.

Bella, a beautiful Asian elephant, and her human companion?Kyra will arrive in Basingstoke on Saturday, as they travel from Festival Place’s amphitheatre to Eastrop Park on a heartfelt search for Bella’s herd. Brought to life by three highly skilled puppeteers and a storyteller,?Bella is a theatrical experience that?bridges the magic of imagination with real-world themes. This production?is a collaboration between Animate Puppet Co, Basingstoke Festival and playwright Rebecca Lyon.

For a nature-inspired theatre adventure combining dance, sound and storytelling, audiences can stay in Eastrop Park on Saturday to see Grow by Highly Sprung. This interactive performance explores skies, oceans and jungles while inspiring care for our planet.

For those looking for a hands-on experience, Pipes and Poo promises a hilariously interactive game-show adventure that explores the extraordinary world of water, pipes and poo. This interactive show will take place in Cross Street on Saturday and Oakridge Hall for All on Sunday as part of the festival’s Out and About programme.

Audiences can also rummage through the rubble with a giant rat puppet and the Squeaky Clean Street Cleaners to discover where all the junk goes in Bin Rat!!!. This fun, feral, family show will appear at the Festival Place amphitheatre on Saturday and in Heathlands Park, Penwood, on Sunday.

Following their appearance at last year’s festival, the world-class artists behind Sabotage return with Bamboo, an extraordinary circus experience in War Memorial Park on Saturday. Audiences can watch performers from NoFit State build towering sculptures that morph, transform and become an improbable, delicate circus playground, accompanied by live music, comedy and amazing feats of strength and agility.

Those who missed out on The Magical Toy Hospital last week will have another chance to drop in for an appointment in Festival Place on Saturday and Sunday. The performance, created by Scratch Built Productions with support from the council’s Creative Incubator Fund, will be followed on Sunday by a chance to have Oakley Stitchers and the Repair Café give specialist care to a well-worn favourite toy.

Adventurers heading to War Memorial Park on Saturday will find that the realm of fairytales has been attacked by villains who are polluting and destroying their magical world. A Fairytale Trail, brought to the festival by Dummer Down Farm’s Rebecca Lewis and Tin Shed Scenery, will be asking audiences if they can build the three pigs a new home, help Jack to plant some magic beans or take down Captain Hook.

Southampton Solent University’s School of Creative Industries will also be bringing a bold and unique visual arts showcase, The Creative Container, to the heart of The War Memorial Park on Saturday. Packed with vibrant ideas from emerging artists, this exciting festival feature celebrates fresh talent shaped by hands-on learning.

Cabinet Member for Sports, Leisure and Culture Cllr Kerry Morrow said: “This final weekend is set to be a fantastic celebration of everything that makes Basingstoke Festival so special. From Basingstoke to Oakridge and Penwood, there are so many different performances and exciting sights and sounds to appreciate.

“It’s been another fantastic year for the festival. As we celebrate 15 years, we’re proud to continue bringing high-quality arts and culture experiences to our communities. While we wait to hear if our bid to become the UK’s first ever Town of Culture, this is a reminder of how much we value and invest in arts and culture for everyone to enjoy for free.”

More information about Basingstoke Festival and how residents and visitors can take part is available at?www.BasingstokeFestival.co.uk?or on social media channels @BasingstokeFestival on Facebook and @BstokeFestival on Instagram.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is supported, using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, for Basingstoke Festival 2026. Basingstoke Festival is part of Without Walls, a network of organisations bringing innovative outdoor arts to towns and cities across England. There is more information at?www.WithoutWalls.uk.com.