Let's get behind the wonderful immersive festival taking place in Sheffield right now

Showcasing Sheffield' s creative arts scene, Festival On The Square started screening films from independent cinema, The Showroom’s long-term, local festival partners ShAFF (Sheffield Adventure Film Festival) and DocFest on Monday.

The festival is set to run through to Friday, August 27, and includes a morning, afternoon and evening showing along with either a 60 minute film feature from the ShAFF collection or Northern Shorts from DocFest.

The diverse film programme has something for everyone, with everything from Yorkshire classics like Kes, through to cinematic wonders including The Third Man, and family-favourites such as The Lion King, Hidden Figures, Back to the Future and Inside Out.

The festival will also showcase the cream of the crop of Sheffield’s creative arts scene, playing host to live art installations, blockbuster film screenings curated by Showroom Cinema, a series of shows curated by Sheffield Theatres, live entertainment and circus skills, as well as interactive workshops supported by some of the city’s best food and drink traders including an onsite coffee cart from HYGGE and ice cream van from Granellis.

Throughout the festival, live music will be on hand to keep festival-goers entertained, with a plethora of professional street performers including Leona Jørgensen, semi-finalist from The Voice.

It will be held in the city centre right outside the world-famous Crucible and Lyceum Theatres in Sheffield’s impressive Tudor Square.

After a difficult year, it is nice to have something so fun and positive to enjoy in Sheffield city centre.

The city has such a rich and vibrant cultural scene, and it is wonderful to see that being reflected in Festival On The Square.

The fact it is free is important too, because the cost of participating in arts and culture should not act as a barrier by prohibiting those with less spare cash from taking part.

And with the festival taking place outside, it should hopefully help those who remain concerned about the spread of Covid-19 to feel safer about participating.

The city centre has been hit extremely hard by the pandemic, and this fantastic festival should hopefully give people another reason to visit and support some of its fantastic businesses.