A festival that brings talented performers to Winchester has a new director.

Hat Fair is the UK’s longest-running street festival bringing together performers from around the world.

Michelle Walker has joined the Theatre Royal team from her previous role as producer at Oxford Playhouse.

There she was responsible for creating shows on the main stage, in the studio and in off-site locations, including running tracks, shopping centres, car parks and disused garages.

In 2009-2010 she was the West Midland’s Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme and earlier this year she received a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust travel fellowship.

Michelle said: “I’m so delighted to be joining the team at Theatre Royal Winchester. I’ve always been thrilled by the transformative potential of theatre and outdoor arts to connect people and places and can’t think of a better expression of that potential than Hat Fair.

“I’m really excited that the festival simultaneously has a deep connection to its local city and heritage as well as a truly international outlook: the range of artists and companies from all around the world whose work is presented in the unique environment of Winchester is really special.”

July’s Hat Fair brings thousands of visitors to the city and hundreds of children take part in the school parade.

The festival was founded in 1974 by Jonathon Kay and was taken over by the Theatre Royal last year.