Spectacular three-day Liverpool Fire Arts Festival is returning this spring

A spectacular three-day family-friendly festival featuring fire performers from across the UK is returning to Liverpool this spring.

Liverpool Fire Arts Festival will feature a Fire Jam with music and DJs, and a Fire Gala at the Bombed Out Church which will combine fire artists and large-scale light projections by local award-winning immersive AV company, Focal Studios.

Happening across the weekend from May 9-11, it will also include workshops and free activities for children.

The festival has been created by Liverpool-based Bring The Fire Project, who first came up with the idea a decade ago.

BTFP founder Sai Mamys says, after a 10-year break, it felt like the right time to bring it back “blazing bigger and brighter”, to wow a whole new audience.

He explains: “We did one in 2015 and we were lucky then that we had a perfect location. There was a warehouse in the Baltic Triangle and we were able to do the festival in there, but afterwards it was demolished so sadly we lost that venue.

“We tried to do it five years later but then Covid hit so we couldn’t, now we’re 10 years later so we decided that this was the time for another huge event and it will be like a big reunion.

Performers at the first Liverpool Fire Arts Festival

“We bring together local and international fire performers, from the North West, Scotland, London, Bristol and further, so it’s a wide representation of the fire community.

“This year an event called the British Juggling Convention was cancelled so we saw the gap that this created and an opportunity to focus more on bringing fire to the city of Liverpool.

“We’ve been working here for 15 years doing fire performance and developing this scene and we want to bring lots of energy and inspiration to the local artists.”

Bring The Fire Project artists have performed at many of Liverpool’s best-loved outdoor events including Fiesta of Fire at Royal Albert Dock, River of Light, the Lunar New Year celebrations and Light Night.

“Our aim is to create new fire performances to Liverpool to show what can be done,” adds Sai.

“Having the Bombed Out Church as a venue for the Fire Gala on Saturday means we’ll be able join forces on production with Focal Studios so it will have a much bigger impact.

“It’s the perfect venue and so many performers are very excited to be able to showcase their acts there.”

The not-for-profit festival will launch on Friday May 9 with the Fire Jam at a secret location still be revealed. “That will be a chance for all the fire performers to come together and spin and dance to the music,” says Sai.

“It will be more informal, we’re going to have a DJ and a dedicated space for people to dance with fire and we will also invite people to watch that spectacle.

“On Saturday we will be at the Bombed Out Church for the main event, the Fire Gala, where we’ll have two performances – one earlier so people can come along with children and the second at around 9pm for a later audience.

“Our main festival location is the Black-E, where we’ll have registration for tickets, the festival practice space and workshops. People can spark their love for circus and flow arts, share skills and stories, get inspired by others, make some new friends and have fun with their family discovering something new.

“Sunday at the Black-E will be a community day, with activities for children like free circus workshops as well as a closing performance.”