HUNDREDS of people were drenched in foam in South Woodham Ferrers on Saturday night when a giant ship topped with acrobats toured the streets. SEE PICTURES FROM THE NIGHT HERE
Compagnie Malabar, a group of 12 gymnasts from the south of France, was the focal point of the first Twilight Spectacle to be held in the town on Saturday night.
And it was at the ship's finale in Compass Park where the cannons sprayed as more than 3,000 people gathered to watch the show put on by Chelmsford City Council to celebrate Chelmsford's city status.
"We were so pleased with it," said Ana Yates, the council's events manager.
"It's quite possible the spectacular will return, not the same company, but a different one.
"I think it will make a reappearance – people here were so pleased to have it come to their town."
With the help of sponsors The Printing Place, Essex & Suffolk Water, High Chelmer Shopping Centre, BBC Essex and the Essex Chronicle, the city council could put on the event free to the public.
With a limited budget, it was the first event of its kind since 2007, after events manager Liam Rich spotted the French group in action in 2006.
Malabar, whose acrobatics on their four-and-a-half by seven-and-a-half metre boat, include a somersaulting performer on bouncy stilts, have performed all over the world for 20 years.
Then two giant aliens battled it out as part of the show to be crowned the champion of the Glass Bead Game.
Mrs Yates and the council now look forward to hosting musical Spanish company Voalá Station, who will colourfully depict city workers who abandon their suitcases to become mystically entwined in the sky for the Chelmsford City Centre celebrations this Saturday.
It will start from 8.45pm at the Wharf Road car park behind the Essex Records Office in Chelmsford.
