CHRISTCHURCH Town Council have shown their full support for the arts and music festival coming to the town later this year.

Event organisers Activate will be hosting an Inside Out Dorset event on The Quomps on Christchurch Quay on Sunday 19th September as part of the festival’s opening weekend.

The event’s programme will bring together a high-quality selection of local, national and international circus and music work including Dorset Youth Dance, acrobatic London based theatre group Mimbre and French ensemble Cirque Rouages.

During Christchurch Town Council’s recent Community Committee meeting on April 23, Dom Kippin, producer of outdoor arts at Activate, spoke to councillors about the company’s plans for the event.

He said: “We have been running in the county now for 15 years nearly and we have only been able to work once in Christchurch once at the end of Hengistbury Head, mainly due to difficulty in getting funding when the town was within East Dorset.

"The programme is a mix of international, national and regional circus dance and music events, which kind of showcase everything we do as a festival.

"We are looking to bring the event to the Quomps. It is obviously a well-used event site that has hosted many successful events, and we hope this will be the start of a fruitful relationship with Christchurch and Christchurch Town Council."

Councillors voiced concerns about whether the event would cause a change to the landscape, but organisers of the event said they aim to leave “no imprint at all” once they have left with their event.

Mr Kippin added: “We are highly sensitive to the environment and to the natural landscape around us, and what we want to do is basically emphasise the beauty of that landscape and encourage other people to discover it, rather than making any detrimental impact to it.

"So we will do everything possible to make sure that not a blade of grass is out of place."

The item was proposed and seconded, and councillors voted unanimously in favour of the event.

The then chair of the Community Committee Cllr Fred Neale said: “I suggest that we allow this to go ahead, and we actually look forward to meeting and greeting you into Christchurch, and I hope it does end up being a long-lasting relationship.”

Christchurch Town Council will now work with Inside Out, BCP Council, and other statutory partners and grant a license accordingly.