Photos: Gratte Ciel Presents THE AWAKENING As Part of UK City of Culture in Coventry

The second of four big celebration weekends to mark the end of Coventry's tenure as UK City of Culture saw Coventry city centre host the World Premiere of a show that brought acrobatics, aerialists and plenty of colour to a packed weekend of events. The Awakening, by the French company Gratte Ciel, known for their aerial spectaculars full of colour and music took place in Broadgate today, Friday 13 May, and is on again tomorrow at 6.30pm, Saturday 14 May.

This major outdoor spectacle, set to wow a sold-out crowd of thousands of audience members by the end of the weekend, saw audiences today treated to 40-minutes of incredible feats of human strength and resilience from aerialists, dancers and acrobats, accompanied by live music. The show climaxed in an explosion of colour with 500kg of confetti (to be recycled after the show) - or one imperial tonne - showering on to the audience. 5km of streamers will also be fired out across Broadgate over the two performances.

Originating from Arles in France, Gratte Ciel has presented shows around the world - from Montreal to Stockholm, and Buenos Aires to Adelaide.

The Awakening forms part of a huge weekend of celebration as the UK's first permanent immersive digital art gallery, The Reel Store also opened today (Friday 13 May). This is the City a carnival style parade celebrating the best of the last 12 months takes to the streets tomorrow (Saturday 14 May) at 1pm. And on Sunday 15 May, Our Wilder Family, a spectacular artist-led drone show inspired by the movements of flocks of birds, will take to the skies above the city at War Memorial Park, and will be streamed around the world on the Coventry City of Culture website.

Wildlife Gathering takes centre stage on the third May weekend (Friday 20 to Sunday 22 May), with Coventry's myriad of parks and green spaces being celebrated with activities. The festivities conclude with Radio 1's Big Weekend coming to Coventry's War Memorial Park from Friday, 27 to Sunday, 29 May with Harry Styles recently announced as one of the headliners.