Cabot Circus will come alive with music, song and dance on Sunday May 17 when cultural arts organisation World Jungle holds a festival.

Billed as an "artistic journey showcasing world music, song and dance", the event will bring together a wide variety of local, national and international artists.

Performers will include hip-hop dance champions Messy Jam, the internationally-renowned Akomopa African Drumming and Dance Ensemble from Ghana, Bristol singer Celestine Walcott- Gordon and local contemporary African dance company Zigou Dam.

The festival, which will run from 11am until 5pm, will also include a 'dance off' involving some of the best hip-hop dance groups in the UK and pupils chosen from local schools, as well as acrobats, poets and street theatre performers.

During the afternoon there will be a series of activities taking place around the centre, including henna tattoos, face painting, storytelling and dance and music workshops.

There will also be a carnival-style procession of African and samba dancers and drummers, acrobats, stilt walkers and community and youth groups who will leave Cabot Circus at 11am to travel to the Podium in Broadmead.

A selection of the groups will stop to entertain the crowds before the procession makes its way through Quakers Friars and along Brigstowe Street to the main stage in Cabot Circus.

The event is being co-ordinated by Bristol-based World Jungle and a range of Bristol arts organisations.

World Jungle supports cultural artists across the region and has developed the event to showcase and celebrate diverse talent.

It is a not-for profit organisation which aims to provide opportunities for young people through the medium of dance, music and arts.

Marketing and communications manager of World Jungle, Tennis (c) Russell said: "We hope that holding an event of this type and magnitude within the heart of Bristol will benefit not only those directly involved, but also many other local organisations and groups, as well as traders.

"We aim to make this an annual event for Cabot Circus, helping to put Bristol firmly on the map as a centre of cultural entertainment in the South West."

Cabot Circus centre director Richard Belt said: "We are delighted to be supporting such a vibrant and important event which will provide a memorable day out for people of all ages.

"The line-up is certainly impressive and Cabot Circus and Quakers Friars will provide the idea backdrop for such stunning and colourful live performances."

Anyone who would like to volunteer to help out on the day or provide funding to support World Jungle's activities, please contact Jane Manning on 01453 545202, email info@worldjungle.org.uk or visit www.worldjungle.org.uk.