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Great Northumberland Winter Festival launched
The Great Northumberland Winter Festival was launched at an event at The Alnwick Garden, hosted by Northumberland County Council.
The Festival will support new and diverse cultural events across the county taking place until March 2020.
Also launched at the event was the second round of the Northumberland Cultural Fund (NCF).
Leader of the council Cllr Peter Jackson opened the event and guest speakers included Kiz Crosbie, Artistic Director of Mortal Fools; Joe Lang, Festival Director of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, David Ratcliff and Caroline Theobald representing Nordic Voices and Mike Coleman of Core Music in Hexham, who are all previous recipients of the NCF.
Cllr Jackson said: “Since we launched our events programme last summer Great Northumberland has gone from strength to strength.
“We have a vision that by working with the cultural and arts sector we can create “seasons of events” stimulated by Northumberland’s heritage and arts and make these events free and accessible for all.
“We want to highlight what Northumberland can create, produce and deliver.”
Kiz said: “Mortal Fools is a theatre and drama company with a strong focus on children and young people. Through the Cultural Fund we were delighted to co-create an improvisation show with young people in Prudhoe and across the Tyne Valley, where we are based, which was so well received and welcomed by the local community. Without the Council’s support these local cultural events just wouldn’t happen.
“Being part of Great Northumberland has been life changing for us and has allowed us to do things that we would never have been able to organise otherwise.”
Applications are now live for the NCF with event organisers able to bid for a share of £65,000 . It will be used for small projects, aimed at supporting the programme of county wide activities and would not be intended to fund large scale events.
Applications can be made for events in any creative genre, by a constituted group, charity or Not for Profit organisation but the fund can not be used to fund 100% of the event.
The NCF will continue to enhance the legacy of the Great Northumberland Programme and also facilitate and encourage free and sustainable Arts and Cultural engagement throughout Northumberland for residents and visitors.
To apply for funding go to www.greatnorthumberland.co.uk/
Picture caption (from l to r) Guest speakers with councillors at the launch of the Great Northumberland Winter Festival.
Mike Coleman, Core Music Hexham; Joe Land, Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival; Caroline Theobald CBE, of Nordic Voices; Cllr Cath Homer, Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts, Leisure and Tourism at Northumberland County Council (NCC); Kiz Crosbie, Artistic Director of Mortal Fools UK; Jonathan Blackie, Chairman of The Alnwick Garden Trust; David Ratcliff, of Nordic Voices and Cllr Peter Jackson, Leader of NCC
