ONE man's relationship with a piece of wood and youngsters creating their own miniature figures took centre stage for the first full day of this year's Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF).

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The event got off to a flying start last night (Thursday) when Cirk Vost opened the festival with their performance of BoO.

Over the four days of Sirf, Stockton town centre is filled with street performers and entertainment throughout the day and into the evening.

Tomorrow (Saturday), the Community Carnival will bring its usual colourful vibrancy to the town centre at noon before numerous performances take place at venues around the town.

And the celebration of dance, art and theatre comes to a climatic end on Sunday when Compagnie Carabosse bring the curtain down on the festival in Trinity Gardens.

The Instant Light performance tells the story of John Walker's invention of the friction match.