HAT FAIR, the UK’s longest continually running Outdoor Arts Festival, takes place in Winchester this weekend.

The free three day festival starts today and brings the very best in international street performance, theatre, dance and circus-inspired events to Hampshire.

The festival, now in its 44th year, will run throughout the city centre today and tomorrow, with Sunday’s festivities taking place at a new venue for 2018 - the North Walls Recreation Ground, a short walk from the High Street.

Top street theatre performers from around the world will busk or ‘hat’ during the weekend maintaining the long tradition that gives the festival its name.

Highlights include returning ‘hatters’ Barada Street will charm audiences with their acrobatics, live music and cheeky idiocy while Pina Polar takes the audience Into The Wild with her hula hoop tiger dance and knife juggling and Fra Marto will be hanging out her washing with clowning, hula-hooping and fun for everyone in Out of the Blù.

Mighty Mike will be throwing bowling balls and sledgehammers as if they were as light as a feather and driving nails through boards with his hands.

Jon Hicks the International Man of Artistry with his deadpan comedy will be dexterously executing outsized artworks, Lombric Spaghetti will put themselves to the test with a series of balancing acts in Gum Over and George Orange will perform effortlessly on a slack rope rig that rocks and rolls like a crescent moon in Man on the Moon.

NoFit State Circus and Motionhouse’s thrilling dance-circus collaboration BLOCK headlines tonight at Winchester Bus Station.

This show is directed by Kevin Finnan MBE whose previous work has included the spectacular Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Twenty oversized blocks, fashioned to resemble giant concrete Jenga blocks, are deconstructed and reformed into an infinite variety of shapes for the performers to play on, move and explore with daring physicality, split-second timing and thrilling feats.

The festival is packed full of fun, free to attend and takes place from today to Sunday, full details can be found at: www.hatfair.co.uk.

Festival programmes are available from Theatre Royal Winchester and Winchester Tourist Information Centre.