In 2019 we delivered a highly successful Literary Festival in Burnley. Over the lockdown, we have been developing 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, will be embedded in Burnley, working on ideas and commissions culminating in a weekend of activity.

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.

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.