In 2019 we delivered a highly successful Literary Festival in Burnley. We have been developed the idea and, in June 2023, together with Burnley BID, we will present the first Words Festival in Burnley Town Centre. This builds on our practice of engaging communities to develop and curate a programme that serves local and visitor needs. Our Creative Producer, Stephie Jessop, is embedded in Burnley, working on ideas and commissions culminating in a weekend of activity. 

Man dressed as an inventor standing behind a Poemomatic machine
Poemomatic - Burnley Literary Festival
Woman smiles looking through a macrame hoop
Sophie Skellern Macrame - Drawn to Rawtenstall October 2021

We have also developed a series of events in Rossendale as part of their post-covid town-centre Welcome Back programme, which involved Bacup, Rawtenstall and Haslingden. Again, we worked with local people to ensure our interventions inspired and entertained people through festival-based activity and left a lasting legacy such as the Haslingden Food Heroes Trail and banners in Bacup Market. We are currently working to develop these longer-term interventions in Bacup and Haslingden Markets.

We recently showcased drawings of Rawtenstall throughout the town on posters and banners. We plan to continue this work with regularly updated artistic interventions if funding is available.

 

Audiences watching Circus House at Darwen Market Square this summer

We are currently curating and delivering a programme of holiday activity for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in both Darwen and Blackburn Markets. 

This summer we provided 28 events across the two market venues (and outdoors), employing 18 artists/companies delivering paper craft, music workshops, drama workshops, history through drama, circus, puppetry, plant pot making, songwriting, poetry, mindful doodling, physical exercise, clay sculpting and much more! We saw a total of 2,253 participants (a majority of local residents within a 3 mile radius of the venues) at our events and we all had a brilliant time.

 

Man paints a canvas in the street
Vincent painting at Drawn To Rawtenstall October 2021
Men dressed as chefs playing instruments at the entrance to Bacup Market
The Ski Band - Bacup Inspires October 2021
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