THE Spiegeltent returns to Harrogate Festival this week.

Spiegelwhat? A Spiegeltent is an old Dutch tradition of a large travelling tent that allowed entertainers to take their shows on the road.

Constructed from wood and canvas and decorated with mirrors and stained glass, the tents are rare survivors of history.

Indeed, the Harrogate International Festival spiegeltent was found by an old railway line and has been restored to its full glory, as can be witnessed in Crescent Gardens in a fortnight of entertainment, education, music and literary events from now until July 22.

The Children’s Festival will be held in there, featuring such highlights as the National Media Museum’s Animation Drop-In sessions tomorrow from 10am to 2pm; Jorvik Viking Centre’s Meet A Viking Warrior, Sunday, 11am and 12 noon; Tom Palmer’s Football Reading Game, Sunday, 2pm; and Eureka’s From The Chew To The Poo, a series of interactive activities on July 14 at 12.30pm that follows the journey of a banana and peanut butter sandwich in and out of the body.

Also on July 14, guitar duo Rachel Buckley and Steve Biggs bring a book to life in Musical Stoytimes for the under-sevens at 10am, and Eureka! hosts The Gross Show, an interactive session on bodily functions, where children can make their own versions of sick, snot and blood at 2.30pm.

The National Railway Museum, York, presents The Eggscellent Science Show on July 15 at 11am and 12.30pm, when the reason that the arch structure of eggs is important to the railways will be revealed.

The Children’s Festival concludes with an Afro-Brazilian Drumming Workshop with Claudio Kron on July 22 at 11am. Instruments are provided.

Music features prominently in the evenings, including the return of Benoit Viellefon & His Orchestra tomorrow at 8pm; Robin Hood’s Bay’s Eliza Carthy Band, Thursday, 10pm; and Leeds band Ellen & The Escapades, next Friday, 8pm.

The literary bent of Harrogate Festival is reflected in the Spiegeltent programming too.

Michael Frayn, journalist, playwright and novelist, will be interviewed by literary journalist Suzi Feay tomorrow at 3.30pm, and author James Forrester will take A Sensory Ride Through Elizabethan England on July 18 at 6pm.

Be prepared for vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine – not very Harrogate at all!

The full Harrogate Festival programme can be seen online at harrogateinternationalfestivals.com Box office: 01423 502116.