Warrington Arts Festival

A truly cosmic experience is landing at Warrington Arts Festival (WAF) this summer which will leave families pondering the age old question: Is there life on Mars?

The vibrant annual event, produced by arts charity Culture Warrington, has gone galactic for its 2026 programme with a series of performances and installations coming to a variety of venues and pop-up spaces between 18 and 25 July.

WAF uniquely blends global showstopping performances with new bespoke work devised, created and delivered by Warrington artists, communities and young people.

Leading the way is internationally renowned artist Luke Jerram’s awe-inspiring sculpture of Mars which will be suspended from Parr Hall’s ceiling throughout the duration of the festival. It will be free to view but with pre-booking required at key times.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork has been created using detailed NASA imagery of the Red Planet, 140 million miles away, so that every valley, crater, volcano and mountain will be laid bare for visitors to inspect.

The atmospheric experience will be accompanied by a sound composition crafted by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones, and Luke’s hope is that by seeing this inhospitable desert wasteland up close, people might stop and think differently about their own life on Earth.

Mars will also bring some extraterrestrial flair to a series of special events which will take place under the planet. There will be an astronomy talk, film screenings, yoga and sound baths.

But the highlight will be two nights of live music beneath Mars’s glow.

First up is Manchester band HENGE whose alien blend of rave and prog rock won them ‘Best Live Act’ at the Independent Festival Awards in 2018.

Energetic, playful and joyfully original, HENGE’s ‘music from distant planets’ is the perfect fit for a unique gig under Mars on 23 July.

Then on 24 July, club culture icon Dave Haslam will bring the spirit of the Haçienda to life for a rare and intimate club night. Dave will be joined by Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert (The Other Two/New Order) plus another special guest soon to be announced for a night of electronic sounds, underground classics and Manchester after dark vibes.

Elsewhere at WAF 2026, the circus will be rolling into town for a largescale and unmissable aerial spectacular with plenty of wow factor.

Contemporary French circus company CirkVOST are flying to Warrington especially to present Pigments which will close the festival in style at Bank Park with two shows on Friday and Saturday, 24 and 25 July.

The free open air show will feature 12 acrobats, a series of synchronized trapeze stunts and a jaw-dropping performance of increasingly daring feats 15 metres above ground.