• 'Farmyard Circus' at the Revive Festival performing group acrobatics, juggling, theatre, and live music.

Go Festival

Save the date for Saturday 15 June as GO Festival makes it way to Gainsborough Town Centre.

From 10am until 6pm, this FREE event will showcase talented performers from Gainsborough and beyond.

The community stage will return with international acts also performing in the Market Place and Elswitha Green that you won’t want to miss.

West Lindsey District Council are pleased to announce a new addition to this year’s festival, thanks to the award by Arts Council England of £30,000 from National Lottery Project Grants. This funding will enable a series of school and community workshops with professional artists and performers to contribute to a spectacular carnival parade as part of the event.

The town centre will host a fantastically colourful and dynamic Caribbean-inspired carnival procession interwoven with more local themes, inspired by English folklore and nature.

Working in collaboration with SO Festival in Skegness, the event is delivering a programme of international artists that showcase amazing theatre, dance and arts.

Food, drinks and much more will be available for the public to purchase throughout the day.


Here’s the line up so far. More details will be continually added so keep checking for regular updates!

Hippos – Zum Zum Teatre

Three people dressed as large hippos

11am and 3pm

In a world where animals and people live together, we encounter hippopotamuses that choose a middle path. Are the humans disguised as the animal they wear? Or are they hippos that are searching for themselves inside of the individual that inhabits their body?

HIPPOS is a street theater show that challenges the appearances and stereotypes imposed by society. Three hippos dance, live and interact with people, but beyond the fun, a message is hidden, that of respect for difference.

Join these hippos on a physical journey that could be a fable, a metaphor, the preliminary reflection for a doctoral thesis on humanity and animality or, simply, a chance for all audiences to find themselves, and be a little lonelier, but in better company. 

Duration: 25 mins 

Get Lost – Joe Garbett Dance  

1.30pm and 4.45pmA person in a tent that is leaping off the ground

Help two happy hikers on their way and dive into a wholesome, high-energy dance adventure, where tents can dance and massive maps swamp the land. 

Get Lost is about encouraging curiosities, igniting adventures and pushing past stereotypes. 

As the story unfolds (literally, the dance floor is a huge unfolding map!) the relationship between the two relatable characters is ambiguous. The two dancers are empathetic, hyper, soft and tactile as they support, celebrate and solve their way through this wholesome yet high energy performance. 

Duration: 30 mins 

Thingamabob – Matt Pang 

Thingmabob performs in front of a group of children.

11.30am and 3.30pm 

With an internationally renowned blend of circus, invention and humour, Matt brings to life a giant ball slinging, self exploding piece of handcrafted gadgetry, inspired by the famous Rube Goldberg machines and Heath Robinson contraptions. 

Be part of the mayhem as our intrepid inventor risks nerve wracking failure to bring you one perfect chain reaction… with a little help from his little assistant. Matt Pang is an award winning circus and outdoor arts performer. His work blends circus and audience interaction, invention with laugh out loud humour. Matt’s shows have been performed at theatres and festivals in over 15 different countries. 

Duration: 30 mins  

Collection Day – Rhubarb Theatre  

A street performance involving bin collectors who are sweeping the floor and gesturing to look at the mess. 12.45pm 

It’s bin day and 2 rambunctious refuse collectors are heroically cleaning the streets. But what’s this? A dustbin that refuses rubbish.  Delving into its depths, we discover that ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, as a wonderful myriad of stories and treats ensue from all that is rubbish and recycled.  

Rhubarb Theatre bring a dustbin of fun, a black sack of eco messages and heaps of mime, physical theatre, comedy, puppetry, and creativity into this brand-new storytelling piece.  

Duration: 30 mins 

Midsummer Carnival 

A large group dressed in carnival costumes. 2pm 

A spectacular carnival parade will make its way from Lord Street into the Marketplace in the early afternoon. The lively and colourful parade will be led by young people from the Zodiac All Stars dance troupe, based in Nottingham, accompanied by Montserrat Masqueraders carnival performers and a specially commissioned Summer Queen – dressed in a new costume made with help from the local community.  

Local dancers will perform alongside performers dressed in costumes inspired by flora and botanicals from around the world.  

Artists from Curiosity Creators and Lumo Workshop have created themed decorations for the town centre working with the community, to complement the town’s Bunting Blast, created by Electric Egg – look out for flags around the town designed by local children. 

Duration: 50 mins 


Silk Workshops
Thursday 9 & Friday 10 May, Trinity Arts Centre

Create your own hand-painted suncatcher and to contribute to the design of a bespoke carnival costume that will be part of this year’s parade. Themed around ‘the healing garden’, work with artist Donna Fox to use hot wax batik where you will learn silk dye techniques and create a floral-inspired design on silk.

Over 16s only. Book now via Trinity Arts Centre’s website. Made possible by funding from Arts Council England.


This event will be made possible by funding from West Lindsey District Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Arts Council England, and Gainsborough Town Council.

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