More events announced for Hull's City of Culture year

The Royal Ballet will perform at the reopening of Hull's New Theatre

A performance by the Royal Ballet will reopen Hull's New Theatre after a £16m refurbishment.

The show in September is part of the next wave of events announced as part of the City of Culture year-long arts festival.

Other highlights already announced include hosting the Turner Prize and an exhibition on poet Philip Larkin.

Organisers said more than 42 works had been commissioned for the festival's spring and summer season.

Other premieres include a new play by Hull author John Godber, as well as musical performances and the unveiling of artist Spencer Tunick's photographic work Sea of Hull, featuring 3,200 local people in the nude and painted blue.

Spencer Tunick's photographs of 3,200 local people in the nude and painted blue will go on display in the Ferens Art Gallery, on 22 April

Pride in Hull

Hull will also be at the forefront of national events to mark 50 years since the start of the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Pride in Hull is part of LGBT 50, and will celebrate the city's contribution to liberty, tolerance and emancipation around the world, organisers said.

Marc Almond is performing in Hull's Queens Gardens on 22 July

The event, which runs from 21 to 27 July, will feature Marc Almond, who had a hit with a cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love, with Soft Cell.

'Great for art'

Hull's place as a major port, and its links with Rotterdam and Reykjavik, will also be celebrated under the theme of Roots and Routes, which runs from April to June.

Martin Green, chief executive of the Hull 2017 organisers, said the summer events were a chance to "throw the doors open" to visitors to the city.

"We know that awareness of the project is really sky-high," he said.

"So now let's convert them into people who actually come to the city and that's great for art and great for the economy."