Great Northumberland Winter Festival programme announced
26 Nov 2020 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Great Northumberland Winter Festival programme
This year’s Great Northumberland Winter Festival programme of events has been announced.
A total of 20 events have received funding through the Northumberland Cultural Fund (NCF), led by the county council, and will be part of the Great Northumberland Winter Festival.
Whilst the Coronavirus pandemic may have put a stop to many physical events taking place this year, the council was committed to continuing to support the cultural sector in helping to create online and socially distanced events.
The events will take place between November 2020 and March 2021.
As a result of Covid many of the events will focus on supporting isolated communities or bringing events into people’s homes via video or online streaming.
The first of the events kicked off last week with the Amble Festival of Light. Individuals, groups, streets, care homes and schools in the town were invited to light up Amble and fill the windows of their homes with illuminated illustrations, installations and lanterns depicting their favourite myth or legend.
There are now more than 650 participants with everything from mermaids to dragons being displayed in windows as well as original myths written and illustrated by the community, including one which explores a personal experience of dementia via story telling. Organised by the Dry Water Arts Centre the event has also received funding from the Amble Events Team and Arts Council England.
Frances Anderson, of the Dry Water Arts Centre said; “Normally we would hold a Light Parade in the town, which attracts thousands of people every year but when we realised we wouldn’t be able to do that we wanted to organise something which could still bring people together in a socially distanced way.
“We have held online workshops to help people with their designs and given people lantern kits so they can bring them to life. Our dementia positive group have put many of the kits together which have been delivered by community volunteers and street co-ordinators. The support has been phenomenal, and as ever the people of Amble have shown their true community spirit and have come together to spread joy and creativity to light up lockdown .”
From December 11 children and young people’s charity Leading Link will be hosting “Remotely Christmas,” a full day of Christmas fun for everyone. The event will include a video montage of Christmas Light switch-ons around the county; storytelling sessions; live drawing workshops with children’s author and illustrator Liz Million; short stories from local people and libraries sharing their favourite Christmas memories and there may even be a message from the Big man himself (via Zoom of course!).
The day will be hosted live on You Tube and the content will focus on three separate groups; School; Care Homes and Family at home.
Lyn Horton, of Leading Link said: “We have been doing a lot of work over the summer through our pop-up events with numerous partners in communities, but we wanted to do something which helped to unite the 4 corners of Northumberland and spread a bit of Christmas cheer.
“There will be something for everyone on the day and we hope that this can become an annual event and part of the Christmas calendar in the county.”
Cllr Jeff Watson, cabinet member for culture at Northumberland County Council said: “In a normal year Northumberland’s Christmas and winter events are a real highlight on the calendar, so it is very disappointing that so many of them are not able to go ahead.
“However, as ever our vibrant cultural sector, with help from our funding, have created some exciting and innovative events which allow residents to still experience the joy and magic of Christmas, as well as bringing them engaging events to enjoy through the dark winter months.”
Great Northumberland Winter Festival programme