Cambridge’s Out of the Ordinary festival returned for its third year this weekend (23/08-24/08).

Out of the Ordinary is a free outdoor arts festival that takes place throughout Cambridge’s city centre, centred around Christ’s Pieces. The event showcases the work of performing arts groups, with an emphasis on young performers.

Out of the Ordinary promises “extraordinary acts, visual comedy shows, music and dance as well as wellbeing activities and some fantastic local food vendors”.

One notable performance, amongst a wide variety, was ‘Out of the Deep Blue’ by Birmingham-based Autin Dance Company which featured a 13-foot tall puppet to raise awareness of the climate crisis.

Other performances included Risky Business’ street theatre in Market Square, stilted glowing jellyfish wandering Christ’s Pieces, and various local bands performing on the event’s music stage also on the Pieces.

Christina McNally from Cambridge City Council said: “It’s a big free festival and it’s accessible for all.” She added, “it really is out of the ordinary, and it’s really good fun”.

Out of the Ordinary was sponsored by Cambridge BID (Business Improvement District) again for 2025, a collaboration of 1,200 city centre businesses who work together to promote the city centre to tourists.

The festival began in 2023, the same year Cambridge’s Big Weekend was cancelled, functioning unofficially as a lower-cost alternative to the event.

Big Weekend was a previously annual music event held on Parker’s Piece. Cambridge City Council cancelled the event permanently in 2023, citing high costs.

Big Weekend is just one of several civic events in Cambridge to have been cancelled in recent years. Cambridge’s Strawberry Fair, run entirely by volunteers since 1974, was also cancelled in 2025 due to lack of funds.

The one-day music and arts festival is usually held on Midsummer Common in June, and this is the first year it had been cancelled for the primary reason of “unsustainable deficits”.