Details of the 2015 Darlington
Arts Festival have been announced and it promises to offer an exciting
celebration of the borough’s cultural life.
The festival, the third to be
held, will be staged at a wide range of venues across the borough and is being
co-ordinated by Darlington for Culture (DfC), the voluntary group which speaks
for arts and culture in the area. It will run from April 20 until the end of
May.
The idea of the festival came
from DfC in the wake of the closure of Darlington Arts Centre in 2012 and was
designed to provide a focus for the town’s arts and culture community and to
show case its many varied offerings.
This year, almost seventy events,
taking in everything from art and literature to music and dance, for all ages will
be staged at more than 25 venues. Highlights include:
* Politicians will debate the
future of arts and culture funding in a pre-Election debate which will launch
the Festival. The free event is being staged on Monday April 20 at 7pm in the
Liddiard Theatre at Polam Hall School on Grange Road and Darlington candidates
from the main parties have agreed to take part, including answering questions
from the audience. The event will be chaired by Chris Lloyd, the Political
Editor of The Northern Echo.
* A number of events to draw
attention to the 190th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington
Railway, including a railway-themed Film Festival featuring classic moves
including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Railway Children to be run
by Darlington Film Club, which is based at the Forum in Borough Road, and
events at Head of Steam, Darlington’s railway museum.
* A month-long literary festival, featuring numerous
readings, discussions, writing workshops and book signings, including a day of
workshops on Saturday May 16, organised by Authors North, the northern group of
the Society of Authors, at Teesside University, in Vicarage Road, followed by
an evening of readings of award-winning short stories at Voodoo Café, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington
* Several art exhibitions
including The Materialistics – A Grand Tour
between May 12-July 2 Crown Street Art Gallery, Crown Street Library,
Darlington. The Materialistics are a group of knitters and stitchers, ranging
from novices to experts, who enjoy practicing their skills in creative ways,
using recycled materials whenever possible.
* A series of music events, including Darlington
Jazz Festival, with events at venues across the town between Thursday April 23-Sunday April 26
including on
Saturday 25th
April an afternoon of free outdoor jazz
at the Joseph Pease Area and High Row in the town centre.
Among
other musical events, there will be visits by musicians from America and Italy and on Saturday
May 16 Darlington Folk Club will present a Folk Music and Dance Day in the town
centre, including musical performances and folk dancing
* Sunday May 10 will see the Arts Showcase Event take place between
10am and 4pm. Co-ordinated by Darlington
for Culture in partnership with a number of other organisations and individuals.
Previously, this event has been held in the Market Place. This year it is moving to Darlington’s
‘Cultural Quarter’, the area along Borough Road from the Civic Theatre, past
the site for the new Children’s Theatre Hullaballoon, past the Forum Music
Centre up to Darlington College and Teesside University in Haughton Road.
This family event is free to
everyone and has a theme of Arts, Music, Crafts, Leisure Activities, Theatre
and Dance with many organisations involved. There will be three open-air performance
areas and shows will take place throughout the day. Middleton Street Peace
Garden, commemorating the loss of two local men in the First World War, will be
opened at midday by Lord Sawyer, Chancellor of Teesside University and a
Darlingtonian.
If your arts group or
organisations wishes to take part in the showcase, please contact DfC at darlo4culture@gmail.com
DfC Chair John Dean said:
“This year’s festival promises to be excellent, providing an opportunity to
celebrate the range of activities on offer.
Darlington’s arts and culture scene is alive and kicking and the
festival gives people the opportunity to enjoy what is on offer. There really
is something for everyone.”
DfC Secretary Matt Roche said: “The sheer array of events that
will make up Darlington Arts Festival 2015 demonstrates that the cultural
community is thriving in the town. This is based on the hard work of lots of
brilliant people, often who are not paid but do it for the love of the arts and
where we live. We'd urge everyone in Darlington to join with us to dance and
sing and laugh and express ourselves. After all, in these difficult times, arts
and culture help remind us what it is to be human.”
Stephen
Wiper, Creative Darlington Manager, said: “2014 was a great year for culture in Darlington, with Darlington Arts
Festival, Darlington Comedy Festival, Darlington Community Carnival, Darlington
Dance Festival, Darlington Jazz Festival and the Festival of Thrift.
Great festivals and the Jabberwocky Markets are raising our profile and help
the local economy and help bring a smile to people’s faces.
“Major Lottery funding awards secured by Darlington
Civic Theatre and Theatre Hullabaloo in 2014 will help preserve and promote our
theatre heritage and enhance the borough’s rich reputation for art going
forward.
“The Forum, the Bridge Centre for Visual Arts and
Crown Street Art Gallery are also thriving thanks to people’s hard work.
“People are now expecting great things from
Darlington and Darlington for Culture play a key role in mobilising skills,
talent and enthusiasm across the borough and in harnessing the we can do it
spirit. They’ve made Darlington Arts Festival into something we can all be
proud of. I would like to congratulate Darlington for Culture and
everybody who’s helping the arts flourish in Darlington.”
John Rice, Chair of Authors
North, the northern group of the Society of Authors, said: “This year we’re
organising our spring events as part of the Darlington Arts Festival. Authors
North is the northern group of the Society of Authors, and as such we’re
passionate about supporting cultural festivals in the north. We’re delighted to
be part of the third annual Darlington Arts Festival.”
Supporters
of the festival include
Creative
Darlington
Cleveland
College of Art and Design
Resilient
Business Systems
Ephemeral
Web Design
Darlington
Borough Council
Newcastle
Building Society
Forum Music Centre (run by
Humantics)
- More information is available at www.darlingtonforculture.org,
Twitter
at @darloartsfest, Facebook at darlingtonartsfestival2014
and a brochure will be circulated throughout
the town nearer the time
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