TWO special evenings of performance, live music and intrigue will celebrate the arrival of The Lost Carnival at Dunham Massey this weekend.

For two nights only you can adventure around the gardens at dusk to be amazed by acrobatics, meet toybox doll characters who spring to life when you turn their key and watch the Legs 11 puppet show.

The Jake Leg Jug Band will play 1920s ragtime music and can even witness a special fire performance as night falls.

Dunham Massey has forces with award-winning producers Wild Rumpus and So It Is to present the experience to mark the story of Dunham’s Lost Years and the controversial Victorian marriage of George Harry, 7th Earl of Stamford and Warrington, to the equestrienne performer Catharine Cox.

The Lost Carnival is a theatrical experience focusing on the tale of two rival Victorian carnival families which appears in a different locality each year. The Welcome to the Carnival evening events, from 7pm to 9pm this Friday and Saturday, will be the first opportunity to meet the characters who will be performing as part of a trail of circus and theatrical installations at Dunham Massey until August 30.

Jessica Webb, visitor experience manager at Dunham Massey, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Wild Rumpus to launch what promises to be an action packed summer of fantastic circus activities. We’ll also be telling the story of the glamorous Catharine Cox, Countess of Stamford and Warrington, who was believed to be a circus equestrienne before her marriage to the 7th Earl changed Dunham’s history forever”.

For more information visit nationaltrust.org.uk/dunham-massey