LIVELY street entertainment is usually at the heart of Bradford Festival, and this year’s event promises to be no different.

Culture bosses at Bradford Council have unveiled the line-up of flamboyant and colourful street theatre acts they have booked for the free three-day festival, which runs from July 8 to 10 in City Park, Bradford.

Award-winning British theatre troupe Ramshacklicious will bring a new act combining trombone, tuba, baritone ukulele and electronic drums with clowning, puppetry, fire and pyrotechnics.

The show, Mr & Mr Burn, is described as an explosive, chaotic and offbeat double act where anything can and probably will go wrong.

A geeky function room musician and a bad-tempered crooner perform brass-heavy music from a mobile bandstand, but may not get through their concert without setting their whole world on fire.

The combustible theme continues with Smoke, a comical show from celebrated British theatre company Plunge Boom, in which the character becomes increasingly engulfed by fumes pouring from various parts of his clothing.

Bicycle Bistro, by women’s circus theatre company Circo Rum Ba Ba, will serve up laughs as two eccentric moustachioed waiters arrive on their bistro on wheels.

They lay the table, wind up the gramophone and unleash 40 minutes of choreographed cafe mayhem featuring hat-juggling, plate-spinning and acrobatics.

Visitors will also see a gigantic four metre tall inflatable elephant parading triumphantly around City Park.

The elephant’s mahout will allow a lucky few to take charge of the animal and people will be invited to take photographs of themselves with the beautiful beast.

However, the Todmorden-based creators, Spacecadets, are warning festival goers to be careful as this gentle giant has an unexpected trick up his trunk.

Comedy double act, Dan the Hat and DJ Bobble, will combine hat manipulation with turntable scratching.

Another comedy routine, George Orange’s Man on the Moon, will feature slack-rope walking, a contortionist and bottle balancing.

There will also be performances by Australian magician Andrew Elliot, Bollywood dance act Jay Kumar and Dance Asia and contemporary dancers Inari Hulkkonen and Paul Guenot.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, portfolio holder for regeneration, planning and transport, said: “This year’s festival is packed with lots of colourful and entertaining things to see and do. The street theatre programme is particularly strong with some incredibly innovative and creative acts offering people plenty of opportunities to interact with the performers.”

Bradford Festival attracted more than 150,000 people to the city centre last year.