Spiegeltent Wollongong 2019 is now officially underway with Thursday night being the opening night of what has quickly become one of the most anticipated month on the local events calendar.

The arrival of the Spiegeltent, a Dutch word for mirror tent, signifies a month-long festival of wonderful and eclectic events held in the unique venue now erected in the Wollongong Arts Precinct.

The festival will this year feature Deluxe Deluxe, a show which features a host of circus cabaret talent from across the globe.

Despite the cooler temperatures, the cast were kind enough to meet  the Illawarra Mercury in their show outfits atop Mount Keira on Thursday afternoon for a special photo shoot with our photographer Anna Warr.

Imagine the surprise for the group of school kids from the Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts who just happened to be at the Mount Keira Summit Park on excursion at the same time.

The coincidental meeting proved to be a thrill for both performers and students alike.

Make sure you get along and support the many and varied acts coming to the festival.

Some of the big name comedic acts appearing, such as Dave Hughes, Judith Lucy and Tom Gleeson have already had their shows sell out.

Fortunately their is a large and vast array of shows still available.

Wollongong's growing reputation as an arts and cultural hub has grown immeasurably in a relatively small time and it is in part thanks to events like Spiegeltent Wollongong as well as the vast array of events we attract and host around the region.

It will grow even further with the introduction of the arts/technology extravaganza 3 Festival into our events calendar next year.

It is an exciting time to live in or near this city.

The Illawarra Mercury is a proud partner of Spiegeltent Wollongong 2019.