Festive Road is grateful to Milton Keynes Museum for hosting the ‘Dancing Maharajas’ as part of their Heritage Open Day.

A performance with a life-size pedal-powered elephant (Festive Road’s Harminder), dancing Maharajas and musicians, inspired by the culture of Northern India - the project has been funded by Arts Council England, and Milton Keynes Council - and this is an opportunity for the people of Milton Keynes to get a sneak preview before the show goes on tour in 2020.

Shows will be at 1130 and 1245 - and will last approx 15 mins.

This exciting partnership project is co-produced by Festive Road and Cohesion Plus from North Kent. The project fuses together two distinct genres to create an exciting, artistically rich and engaging outdoor performance.

The piece is performed by British born Asian artists from migrant backgrounds, who present their own interpretation of traditional Bhangra Folk dance and music.

The show celebrates cultural diversity, bringing something different to all sectors of the community, and encouraging public engagement in arts and culture.

It involves and explores a number of art forms including: Bhangra Folk Dance, mobile mechanical art, Punjabi folk singing, Dhol drumming, Street theatre /outdoor arts, and fusion of art and engineering.

In addition to the performances, there will be the opportunity for people to learn some dance steps, have a go at drumming, and get to meet Harminder the mechanical elephant!