After almost 30 years of Spot On Lancashire bringing professional performing arts to the people of Lancashire in democratic, non-traditional spaces such as village halls, churches and libraries, Spot On’s first ever festival came to Poulton-le-Fylde in 2024. 

Spot On’s first venue delivering its rural touring programme was in Churchtown, Wyre – less than 10 miles from Poulton. We have described the festival as a whole season of Spot On performances over one weekend in one town!

Taking place from 14-16 June 2024, the festival presented an eclectic and diverse programme, bringing theatre, music, dance, puppets, comedy and spoken word  to experience for all ages. It included a mix of free and ticketed events in venues across the town – Poulton-le-Fylde Community Hall, St. Chad’s Church, Poulton Library, and the town centre’s public outdoor spaces, Market Place as well as around The Teanlowe Centre. 

Saturday saw the first full day of the festival, marked with the arrival of an artisan makers market curated by Hopeful and Glorious, offering shoppers in Poulton’s Teanlowe Centre something a little different. Outside, two temporary performance spaces also arrived; the Festival Stage overlooked Market Place, and the Furness Stage (named after festival sponsor, Furness Building Society) was home to performances on Elizabeth Square. Between both of these, audiences were treated to a plethora of artists, from local troupes, to solo performers and participatory workshops.

In typical Lancashire fashion, torrential rain soon arrived to put a dampener on the festival in the morning. Spirits remained high as indoor performances continued, and the rain soon passed. Outdoor activity quickly resumed – thanks to the continued commitment and resilience of the artists and the festival team.

Throughout the day, audiences in Poulton had the opportunity to meet (and even feed!) Zelva, a beautiful giant animatronic tortoise, brought to the town by The Flying Buttresses. Lancashire County of Song hosted workshops with a singing group session to bring those living with dementia, as well as their families, friends and carers together at the Methodist Church Hall. They also delivered a Sound of Music singing workshop open to all, featuring classics from the musical including Do-Re-Mi and Edelweiss, held at St. Chad’s Church.

In the Community Hall, Sohan Kailey led an exciting workshop focusing on Bhangra, an exhilarating farming dance from the Punjab region of India; his colourful movements and dance technique portrayed the story of farmers digging, planting seeds and harvesting – encouraging those who came along to try something new. Poet and Comedian Kate Fox’s pertinent stand up show,  ‘Bigger on the Inside’ explored autism and neurodiversity through the lens of Doctor Who.

Canadian folk band Rum Ragged rounded off Saturday with a rousing performance to a full house at the Community Hall, bringing striking vocal harmonies, staggering musicianship and captivating storytelling to the the people of Poulton – making for an unforgettable concert experience unlike any other.

The festival went out swinging at the community hall.

Artful Playground’s Minifest brought a family-friendly music gig to Poulton – and just might have fostered the next generation of ravers and festival goers! Older participants were then invited to learn swing dance – including partner and solo dances from the 1940s and 1950s with Anthony from JazzSwingDance – just in time to get up and break out their moves to the festival’s finale.

The Swing Commanders arrived on stage to a packed out audience, bringing with them energetic showmanship, intricate arrangements, and a sophisticated vocal blend as they performed an exciting mix of 1940s classics, boogie-woogie, western swing, 50’s jump jazz and more.

The festival was attended by over 5,000 people from across the UK, bringing together both those who live and work in Poulton-le-Fylde, as well as new visitors to the town – with many stating they would return to visit again. Local businesses such as cafes and Booths supermarket reported significant increases in footfall and turnover throughout the festival. One of the servers in Thyme Restaurant (located in the Teanlowe Centre) commented that Saturday had been ‘…the best day ever for tips’.

Culturapedia would like to thank all of its key partners for their support in the planning and successful delivery of the Spot On Festival.

The festival followed the National Rural Touring Forum’s conference, held in Blackpool across the prior three days. On the final afternoon, delegates from the conference and the Spot On team travelled to Poulton Community Hall for a showcase of performances including work from Meraki Duo, Half Moon Theatre, Touched Theatre, and Knotted Hawk.  Artist Molly Bland helped signpost the festival across the town through creative use of chalk and stencils.

Friday also saw Dr Kathryn Williams’ installation of her new research-led installation, ‘Coming Up For Air’ at Poulton Library, and later performing segments of this at the festival’s VIP launch in Dalvee Restaurant.  Capping off the first full evening of the festival was the Monster Ceilidh Band, bringing high energy-riffs, folk tunes, intense electronics and a wide variety of styles to Poulton Community Hall for an unforgettable performance!

Poulton Library served as another key venue throughout the day. Touched Theatre’s ‘The Library at the Edge of the World’ brought with it a giant puppet librarian on a mission to create a home for the stories of the worlds most overlooked creatures; families were then able to enjoy a book-making workshop with the cast.

Later, audiences in the library also joined Iggy, Naz and their eight friends in their bed (or boat, or giant slice of toast) as they dreamed up playful tales of pirates, misunderstood sharks and more with Half Moon Theatre’s ‘Ten in the bed’.  In the evening, The Bookshop Band performed their own songs inspired by a range of literary work ranging from Shakespeare to Philip Pullman.

Meraki Duo brought their signature combination of two distinct instruments to create a memorable performance in St Chad’s with flautist Meera Maharaj and guitarist James Girling. Booths’ cafe by day transitioned into a cabaret-style theatrical venue by evening, with Sanitago Guzman’s ‘Altar’ taking the traditional Mexican holiday Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) to build an altar to summon the ‘ghosts’ of his past relationships.

The festival showed no signs of slowing down on its final day. Market Place was home to Lempen Puppet Theatre’s ‘Penny and the Far Thing’, bringing a charming, highly visual story focusing on nature and themes of growing up, set on (you guessed it!) a penny farthing.

Children and their grown ups helped Pirate Princess Poppy (who found herself shipwrecked and stranded) transform her cumbersome ball gown into a practical and fabulous solution that enabled her to climb to the top of the mast and hoist the flag for clothing equality for all. Fishmongers Cliff and Nestor (Feasible Ferret) were out to rustle some feathers across the town centre, with more interactive puppetry and comedy. Once again, they faced the same unbelia-gull problem that they faced yesterday – being followed by a flock of savvy seagulls! 

In Poulton library, two artists – one tidy and one messy, found themselves both at odds and having to learn to work together in a splashy, splat-filled journey with the performers trying to recreate the history of art with chaotic consequences and slapstick levels of comedy. Artist Natasha Lynch also offered a free abstract art workshop on tiny canvases after the show.

St Chad’s Church was the place to be for music lovers, featuring performances from Nicola Mills, a classically trained soprano opera singer – with audiences choosing her next song from a ‘menu’, tailoring each performance to those in the room and showcasing a mix of popular opera and crossover music.

Willow Trio’s ‘The Swan of Salen’, was a multimedia adaptation of the tragedy of Tchaikovksy’s ‘Lake’ (and the parallel Gaelic legend, Eala Shailein). As the trio performed a mix of Tchaikovksy’s iconic music and traditional melodies live on stage, footage of ballet dancers with choreography from Deborah Norris (Ballet Folk) was also projected and combined, transporting audiences to another time and place.

In 2019 we delivered a highly successful Literary Festival in Burnley, seeing over 1,750 engagements across a single weekend of activity.  The festival had room to grow, and we developed the offer further by building on our practice of engaging communities to develop and curate a programme that serves local and visitor needs. We soon saw that the full potential of the festival was all in the wording!

Whilst other plans often had to be shelved during the COVID-19 pandemic, a partnership between Culturapedia and Burnley BID would go on to develop throughout this time, and following the easing of restrictions, we were ready for the next chapter of the festival.

Relaunching as  Burnley Words Festival in 2023, the programme saw an expanded offer over three weeks, repurposed with a more artistic approach; themes of ‘words’ could be captured in multiple forms rather than merely reading and writing. We also sought to create a sense of co-creation in the town, working with our promoters in Burnley to reach far and wide across the community. Through these engagements, two common themes emerged; a sense of pride in the local heritage and surrounding countryside, mainly from older constituents. Younger people in the area generally highlighted environmental concerns.

These would then be reflected in the content of the Festival’s programme. Activities ranged from family outdoor theatre and storytellers through Charter Walk; to Burnley Market became home to a wide range of books from independent publishers and an author’s stage and a graphic novel workshop. Young creatives in Burnley curated an environmental art display in the library.

Burnley Words Festival has also given empty shops and vacant units in the town a new lease of life. For example, the former Supercuts site has served as a central information hub throughout the festival. Deserted shop windows have served as advertising platforms in the high street, leading up to the festival.

This enables a longer term benefit for Burnley, with room for improved perceptions of the town centre to form and the festival to establish itself as part of Burnley’s cultural identity.

Our Creative Producer, Stephie Jessop, is embedded in Burnley, working on ideas and commissions in Burnley, encompassing the Words Festival and our other projects in the town.

When you think about market spaces, what comes to mind? The distinct layout of artisan stalls?  The sea of different voices from all the conversations that surround you? Maybe it’s the smell of fresh food and local produce. How about cultural and creative hubs, right at the heart of their town centres?

Because that’s exactly what they’ve become in Blackburn with Darwen!

This first came as a council initiative centred on family-focused activities and performances in the markets. Culturapedia has curated further creative experiences with established and emerging artists in accessible and democratic spaces.

Through the programme, Culturapedia sought to encourage people in these communities to visit their local markets more frequently. The organisation, alongside Arts Council England, also aimed to reach prospective audiences who may otherwise struggle to access the arts in ‘priority places’ – areas with low recorded levels of engagement. 

Artists were commissioned across a series of free participatory workshops and performances. The nature of the project meant that Culturapedia could offer two days of paid work to creatives in the heart of Lancashire.

Culturapedia also maintained a commitment to diversity, represented in the range of creatives they worked with; for example, striving to include South Asian artists, reflecting the large South Asian heritage population in these communities, particularly Blackburn. 

The project’s success has helped Culturapedia establish a greater presence in  Blackburn with Darwen’s communities. Regular audiences have emerged, and new audience habits have developed as a result, demonstrating a strong desire for accessible creative and cultural provision in the borough. From October 2022-2023, the project has;

• Engaged 66 freelance artists over the year
• Attracted 2222 participants to 37 workshops that we coordinated
• Attracted audiences of 3375 to 42 performances across 21 separate days.

Culturapedia is actively working to develop and expand this offer further in the near future. In 2024, they received further funding to continue delivery from February and beyond.