Big Local and partners organised a celebration of arts, crafts, music, writing, poetry and history in a Festival event weekend in the heart of North Cleethorpes
When? May 2022
Partners: Hammond House. St Aidans Church. Caxton Theatre. Many other local crafts and arts groups and performers and many volunteers.
In Mid May 2022, Big Local North Cleethorpes and partners took over St Aidans Church and Community Centre for a weekend to hold our very first Cleethorpes Culture Festival. The weekend was full of live performance of music and poetry including a brass band; arts and craft workshops people could get involved with; crafts stalls and artists; and even a costumed up re-enactment of the historic issuing of the Cleethorpes Charter!
The Rona Arts Exhibition also was displaying local art created during lockdown alongside all the interactive sessions and performances. Over 35 pieces of local art were displayed.
The weekend was a great success and was well attended by an estimated 350 local residents.
Big Local North Cleethorpes funded the weekend which was managed and delivered by Hammond House Productions and supported by numerous other groups, organisations and individuals.
Once the weekend was over, around £150 had also been raised which was donated to those affected by the Ukraine war.
Rona Arts
Development Worker John Mooney organised the Rona arts exhibition, and in the end around 35 pieces of art were on display.
Crafts stalls and sales
There was a large craft and book fair held with a wide range of stallholders promoting their products.
Lots of Music
Performances included; Cleethorpes Silver Band; Rachel Makena; Elis Wood; Paul Sutherland; Lauren Smith
Getting involved
Workshops were held throughout the weekend – anything from poetry to arts and crafts. Five workshops were staged in total.
Poetry, readings and more
Alongside the music there were poetry readings to complement the book fair and crafts.
A Cleethorpes Charter Reenactment
On the Sunday there was a reenactment event held covering the historic issuing of the Cleethorpes Charter. This was staged by Caxton Theatre and was funded externally. The Cleethorpes Silver Band performed and the reenactment brought in more members of the public to see what was going on.
Read the story about the Charter Reenactment here.
The Festival weekend was a one-off but was well received by everyone attending and involved. A unique way to get local people involved in a variety of creative endeavours. We reach a few hundred mostly local residents and a lot of fun was had by all.
Hammond House Productions produced a short video of the weekend. Watch it below or find it on the Billboard TV Facebook channel here.