Holmfirth Arts Festival presents an action-packed weekend of free/pay-as-you-decide events this weekend, Saturday and Sunday June 17 and 18.
There will be street theatre with outdoor music and installations, as well as loads of opportunities to get creative.
Live performance will take over the streets in Holmfirth town centre and the popular festival parade takes place, created by Handmade Productions, with help from the community on Saturday at 2pm.
Festival director Bev Adams said: “The festival weekend will fill the town with music, song, performance and crafting activities plus there will even be a nod to the 50th anniversary of Last of the Summer Wine, with a special performance from aerial artists in the characters of Nora Batty and Compo.”
Bev said the annual event, a firm favourite on the Yorkshire festival scene, takes almost a year of preparation and is made possible thanks to the scores of volunteers and local organisations, from across the Holme Valley, who help to run the events and welcome people during festival weekend.
On Saturday, from 12noon to 5pm, Holmside Gardens in the centre of Holmfirth, will be the setting for a music festival garden party, promising a fun day out for all ages.
There will be music from Banda Na Rua, Café Orchestra, Sooner or Later, Ability Options and Soul Choir plus community music makers from across the Holme Valley and participants of music making sessions with Josh Haslam, of Jam Factory.
Images of Flamin’ Nora Flying Compo by SEAN DOYLE
There will be an aerial dance performance from the belltower of Holmfirth Parish Church called Flamin’ Nora Flying Compo. Look out for their flying performances at 12noon and 3.15pm.
The Forces of Nature parade takes place at 2pm on Saturday after communities from across the Holme Valley have helped to create a magical, inclusive and exciting event, meandering around the streets of Holmfirth in a tradition harking back hundreds of years.
Sunday kicks off with the bells ringing out from Holmfirth Parish Church, for the first time in 30 years, with a thriving band of ringers, young and old.
Reggae brass band Pressure Drop will entertain crowds with street performance from aerial artists Urban Angels, Callaloo Carnival Arts, Dark Horse Theatre and Theatre Temoin. Giant butterflies will explore the town on stilts.
The recipient of this year’s Steve Sykes Commission is musician Ellie Ford, who will give a live performance featuring harp, vocals and electronics on the banks of the River Holme.
Further commissions include Dark Horse Theatre with To Be Us, From Industry to Culture photo exhibition by U3A Digital Photography Group and FreeFall, a new vertical aerial dance piece from Urban Angels based on the myth of Icarus, will start at the Picturedrome and finish in the street.
The Art in the Landscape art trail will also be open to view at Earthworks New Mill Community Garden. Further information on Holmfirth Arts Festival is available by visiting www.holmfirthartsfestival.co.uk
