A SPECTACULAR series of outdoor events are taking place in Dorset as part of the Inside Out Festival.

Theatre companies, circus performers and artists have created extraordinary installations and performances for some of the county’s extraordinary places, alongside a family-friendly programme of events.

At Hengistbury Head a series of original events continue from now until Sunday, September 25 from 12-4pm today and 12-6pm over the weekend.

Eight artists and companies have been commissioned to create work for Hengistbury Headlines, an installation and performance trail through the nature reserve at Hengistbury Head, a haven for wildlife, home to over 500 plant species and 300 types of birds.

The artists have rooted their work in this important conservation site to explore the effects of climate change.

Visitors will be able to wander through the landscape of the nature reserve, including areas normally closed to the public, and discover these new artworks one by one.

These include The Soaring Sky by artists Helen Galliano and Dimitri Launde, a coastal walk through a sung performance of birdsong created by local singers, responding to the calls of migratory and endangered birds on the site.

Artist Jony Easterby brings Remnant Ecologies, a series of sound installations containing fragments of British bird song, triggered by algorithms, the wind and sun, and birds themselves.

Ferdinando Bradridge Byrne’s Hides, places two animated bird hides alone on a cliff to explore themes of migration, refuge and the need of shelter.

In Gobbledegook Theatre’s Cloudscapes, director Lorna Rees provides a place to cloud gaze. A pithy prologue explores the parallel between the ever-changing sky and humanity’s future.

Kate Paxman’s Overture is a sound installation outside the former coastguard hut.

She re-imagines the building as a lookout post on the frontier of changing weather patterns, a place to scan the horizon for approaching storms.

Romantic Botanic is an eccentric promenade theatre piece for small groups. The Miraculous Theatre Company - Barnaby Gibbons, Paschale Straiton and Roger Hartley - use poetry and science to delve into the secret love life of plants.

Pebble Gorge’s You’re Getting Warmer is a digital treasure hunt-style adventure for seven to 11-year-olds and their families.

The children are cast as agents for change, hunting down clues, on a mission to save the Marsh Warbler and stall the Three and a Half Degree gang.

Sweetshop Revolution’s director Sally Marie sets her humorous and thought-provoking dance work Tree in woodland on the site.

Four very different male dancers lead us from the comfort of our gardens to where the wilderness lies and ask, deep down, do we really need nature?

Visitors can also wander through the landscape of the nature reserve, including areas normally closed to the public.

Sound artist Jane Pitt will be working with people from Cherry Tree Nursery to create sonic maps as part of the Fl-utter-ances project.

Cherry Tree is a charity based on horticulture aiming to restore well-being to people with mental illness.

Participants will join Jane at Hengistbury Head for a ‘sonic stroll’ – a quiet and thoughtful listening walk.

The walkers will then create sonic maps, which will be displayed in an exhibition at the Visitor Centre at Hengistbury Head in October.

Outreach programme manager Inside Out Dorset, Wendy Petitdemange said: “Inside Out takes extraordinary events to some of Dorset’s amazing outdoor places, and it’s wonderful that we have the opportunity to engage all sorts of community groups in the events.”

She added: “Taking time to listen to natural sounds can create a moment for reflection and peace and we’re very fortunate to have Jane Pitt to take us on her listening walks.”

Sound artist Jane Pitt said: “By sharing my practice with people from Cherry Tree Nursery, we’ve created art works resulting from the unique Hengistbury soundscape; a combination of landscape, weather, human and wildlife as experienced during our walks together.

“Through the experience, we’ve developed a heightened awareness of the environment there, its daily and seasonal changes, our sensory perception and sound memory. Using deep listening as a way of being in and responding to our environment has enabled a focus and a sense of well-being in the moment.”

Fl-utter-ances is one of a series of community events as part of Inside Out Dorset – a biennial festival with theatre companies.

Saturday will see Harbourside (Baiter) Park in Poole host Up in the Air - an outdoor contemporary circus performance with acrobatics, high wires, a boat with its own mobile storm and an illuminating finale.

Shows run from 3-9pm and include the following. Acrojou’s All At Sea, is an atmospheric theatrical installation set in a boat which rows gently through the audience.

The Bullzini Family’s fabulous high-wire show Equilibrius where a playful picture is painted on the skies and eight metres from terra firma fantastic feats of balance are performed with daredevil ease.

Carré Curieux’s tender and thrilling Petit Frère, a juggling acrobatic clown duet with a touch of the Mad Scientist about it, a tribute to the spontaneity of childhood.

Circus Geeks’ Project Vee, classic street performance combined with unusual traditional circus inspired by a legendary Soviet circus act.

World Beaters’ Spark! where high-impact drumming and dynamic choreography gradually build in intensity culminating in a huge climax of light, sound, smoke and movement.

The Inside Out Dorset festival runs until Sunday, September 25.

For more information call 01305 260954 or visit insideoutdorset.co.uk. Inside Out Dorset is the flagship event of producers Activate Performing Arts.