THE spotlight will be on Dorset's creative talent this September with the launch of the 2016 Daily Echo backed Inside Out Festival.

Theatre companies, circus performers and artists are creating extraordinary installations and performances for some of Dorset’s extraordinary places, alongside a family-friendly programme of events.

Spinning sculptures and dazzling pyrotechnics at nightfall, and an unusual celebration of the autumn equinox, are amongst the spectacular outdoor performances taking place around the county.

Here is a taster of what's on and when:

Gillingham - Sunday September 18

Kermiz: A darkly-comic circus adventure for all the family, with eastern European folk music played live.

Hengistbury Head – Thursday September 22 to Sunday September 25

Hengistbury Headlines: Eight artists and companies are creating installations and performances along a trail through the nature reserve at Hengistbury Head, exploring the effects of climate change.

Over the four days, visitors will be able to wander through the landscape of the nature reserve, including areas normally closed to the public.

•The Soaring Sky – a coastal walk through a sung performance of birdsong created by local singers, responding to the calls of migratory and endangered birds on the site.

•Remnant Ecologies is a series of sound installations playing fragments of British bird song, triggered by the wind and sun, and birds themselves.

•Hides – two animated bird hides alone on a cliff to explore themes of migration, refuge and the need of shelter.

•Cloudscapes provides a place to cloud gaze and explore the parallel between the ever-changing sky and humanity’s future.

•Overture is a sound installation outside the former coastguard hut. The building is re-imagined as a lookout post on the frontier of changing weather patterns.

•Romantic Botanic is an eccentric promenade theatre piece for small groups. Poetry and science are used to delve into the secret love life of plants.

•You’re Getting Warmer is a digital treasure hunt-style adventure for seven to 11-year-olds and their families. Children are cast as agents for change, hunting down clues, on a mission to save the Marsh Warbler.

•Tree is a thought-provoking dance work set in woodland.

During Hengistbury Headlines, there will be a chance to take part in the RSPB's Big Wild Sleepouts.

Up in the Air

Harbourside Park, Poole – Saturday September 24

A feast of outdoor contemporary circus performance with acrobatics, high wires, a boat with its own mobile storm and an illuminating finale. Co-presented with Lighthouse, Poole and the Borough of Poole

All Inside Out Dorset events are free (there is a charge for the RSPB's Big Wild Sleepout). For more information and to book, call 01305 260954 or visit insideoutdorset.co.uk.