Families are invited to join in with all the fun of the fair when an engaging new art exhibition and a series of live dance performances premiere at a Durham City art gallery.

Fairground Reminiscence celebrates the history of fairgrounds and tells the stories of the extraordinary lives of the people who travelled with and worked on them.

Artistic director Adam Russell was inspired to create the exhibition, which runs at Durham City’s Gala Gallery until Saturday 25th January, by his dad’s childhood as part of a showman’s family.

Visitors can explore original fairground objects, posters, photographs and video footage, and there are even fun fairground games to play.

The interactive installation will be complemented by a specially created sound track of traditional funfair music and interviews with showmen and their families, who share their memories of working on and growing up with the fair.

A series of live dance performances will accompany the installation on Saturday 14th December at 12 noon and Saturday 28th December, also at 12 noon. Tickets for the performances are free, and can be booked online at www.galadurham.co.uk or by calling the Gala box office on 03000 266 600.

Families are also invited to take part in drop-in workshops in the gallery, on Saturday 7th and 21st December, Saturday 4th and 18th January, where they will have the chance to perform within the installation. Further information about the workshops is available at www.adamrusselldance.com