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Henley Festival |
The Company of Roving EccentricaAND . . . throughout each evening Henley Festival’s trademark silliness is captured once again by a range of performers cropping up in the most unexpected places in the most unexpected costumes - including the absurd French stilted quartet, Les Big Brozeurs, and dramatic Dutch group Close Act and their Saurusses; The Peter & Jane Family, It’s a Dog’s Life, Circus Magic, Close Act, Sushi, and Evergreen; with The Dixie Ticklers, Manhattan Swing and Charlie Barker providing the music throughout the enclosure. CIRCUS MAGIC 
Circus Magic are an up and coming UKbased entertainment company whose performers will be wandering the festival site dressed in glowing UV and LED body suits. It will also be hard to miss their team of stilt walkers. Make sure you keep an eye out for their magician, who’ll be happy to stop and show you some amazing illusions and sleights of hand. LES BIGBROZEURS 
The four creatures, measuring two and a half metres, with strange faces, glasses and thick lenses, black hats and trench coats like detectives, are not the kind of thing you expect to see every day. Les Bigbrozeurs induce laughter and create confusing situations wherever they go, dragging veritable masses of people behind them. THE PETER & JANE FAMILY 
Full of nostalgic charm, the family look as though they’ve stepped from between the pages of a Ladybird book, and embrace life’s simple pleasures in a larger than life format. Peter and Jane tower over their diminutive parents, and Pat The Dog is frozen in a state of perpretual excitement at the sight of his Red Ball.
WET PICNIC 
You are invited to wine and dine with us. The Dinner Table is a moving extravaganza of foodilicious goodness, with all sorts of strange goings on and surreal happenings. Watch out for this giant feast creeping up behind you! This eight seater dinner table will have room for 4 guests and all are welcome to join the fun and fine dining, but be warned you may leave a changed person. CLOSE ACT – Saurus 
Gigantic creatures out of the Prehistory come back into the 21st century. These silver Sauruses have a much higher intelligence than the former dinos. They communicate through noisy, incomprehensible sounds, filled with both rhythm and humour. When they get hungry, their beastlike nature comes alive. Individually they go looking for food to fill their enormous stomachs.
THE2MEN 
Colin and Tom Jones (Not “THE” Tom Jones!) are twin brothers. From a very young age they would play for hours on end at being Wardens. Impounding each other’s toy cars and clamping the rocking horse or prosecuting each other for any minor misdemeanour they could think of. It was no surprise that they became fully fledged Wardens when they grew up. They have been empowered with the jurisdiction to enforce any rule or law they see fit. These may include: Breathing too loudly, wearing a loud shirt in a built up area, or possession of an offensive child.
The2Men is a collaboration of the minds of 2 very silly men who ought to know better! The2Men are Anton Mackman and Dave Solo.
LARKIN’ ABOUT 
Larkin’About return again with more of their creations including: The Deep Sea Divers – look out for our two lost divers who, being under water, have to communicate by means of wipe-boards, they’re surrounded by bubbles and fish swim around their heads, watch out for their leaky helmets! The Waiters – Dithering and Walter our hopeless waiters will make sure that all your glasses are charged and that the evening goes with a splash. The Angels – due to the high levels of sinning of recent years at Henley, the Angels are back again to bring a little more peace, love and joy, and hopefully clean up a few auras.
ART CAR PARADE
Crazy Golf
Wooden Car
Tone Float GRACIE SPOON
IT’S A DOG’S LIFE 
Two dogs loose on the streets, checking out the humans. Inevitably the innocent bystanders are drawn into a vortex of surreal chaos and confusion!
STICKLEBACK PLASTICUS Accident prone and ready to serve, Joan and John, having failed the most basic of first aid courses, have set forth with crates of crepe bandage and piles of plasters. RUTH SUNDERLAND & CLAIRE OVERBURY on Belle Epoque 
Ruth Sunderland embarked on the winding path towards professional flute-dom with numerous, mostly triumphant competitions in her hometown of Huddersfield, a flute scholarship aged 15 from Kirklees Music School, a music degree at Oxford University and a Masters in Music Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music. 
Claire Overbury is an up and coming soloist and orchestral player in London, performing a wide variety of orchestral works under conductors such as Peter Stark, Paul Daniel and Ian Brown. She is one of two principal flutes in Southbank Sinfonia, has played for the City of London Sinfonia and is principal flute for Oxford Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of the City. CHARLIE BARKER at La Scala 
Charlie Barker is a young and talented singer songwriter who performs a wide variety of American influenced acoustic music. Over the years, Charlie has been inspired by American folk and country artists such as Nanci Griffith, The Dixie Chicks, Janis Ian and Alison Krauss. She can be seen regularly performing in many of the acoustic venues and folk clubs in her native South Yorkshire/ Derbyshire area. She has appeared at the Royal Festival Hall, London, in the National Festival of Music for Youth, on BBC local radio and she also played at the Radio 2 Young Folk Award semi finals back in the autumn of 2005. 2006 saw her appear at both Ely Folk Festival and the Rockinbeerfest and 2007 was even busier with appearances at Ely, Cambridge Rock Festival, Henley Music Festival and Filey Folk Festival amongst others.
MANHATTAN SWING at The Riverside 
Manhattan Swing is one of the leading modern Big Bands in the UK, led by acclaimed musician/producer Toby Cruse. The exciting harmonies created by the horn section, combined with the drive of the rhythm section, give their performances the ultimate swing! The band's large music library not only tracks the traditional standard melodies but captures the changing moods of popular music.
DIXIE TICKLERS in The Bandstand 
The development of jazz has to be one of the most organic and fascinating stories in music. Dom James and his Dixie Ticklers would like to provide the first chapter for you with an atomic Dixieland explosion.
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A VW Golf covered in Astroturf complete with putting green, hole and flags, just like a mini Crazy Golf course, with its own Crazy Golfer wearing an absurd Astroturf checked breeches and waistcoat combo. 
Gracie blows in on the north wind, pedaling stories & dreams from the four corners of the globe, woven through with the irresistible sparkle of classic close up magic .... Gracie the Itinerant Wordsmith, Magician or Petit Mercier - descended from a long line of Pedlar Women or Notion Nannies - iconic female figures who roamed the country with baskets brimming with tiny crafts, also bringing with them stories, magic and news of the unknown... Buttons, lace & love-hearts. Cards, coins, & thimbles. 
St. Joan & John’s Ambulance
