GRASSINGTON Festival will celebrate people and places later this month.
The festival will get off to a swinging start Friday, June 15, with Electro Swing dance band Swing Zazou and swing quintet Zoot Zazou in the Festival Hall.
For its 38th year, the central concept of Grassington Festival is A Sense of Belonging. This includes This Must Be The Place, commissioned for Grassington Festival in association with Great Place Lakes and Dales – a pilot for a national piece of work about place and location and people.
As usual the festival brings a stacked programme of art, theatre, music, comedy, talks, exhibitions, guided walks, literature and creative workshops. Many acts this year have ties to the local area and the wider Yorkshire region.
There will be an opportunity to catch An Evening with Sir Michael Parkinson, telling of his remarkable journey from a pit village in Yorkshire to the top of those famous stairs.
A couple of days later, Bradford band Smokie take time out of their epic European tour to grace the Festival in the Field Marquee stage. The band plays sell out tours around the globe and have sold over 25 million albums worldwide.
Grassington-born BBC political correspondent Chris Mason will be joined by MP Tracy Brabin for an evening of conversation in the Festival Hall, and Chris Simpson of Magna Carta fame will bring music and stories from his latest book The Visitor, narrated by former Grassington doctor, Andrew Jackson.
There are many free events at this year’s festival; including the opening procession on Saturday, June 16. The following day, a Father’s Day treat could be a visit to the Food Festival, with demonstrations from top chefs, including Alexander’s executive head chef, Struan Macintyre, and stalls from The Courtyard Dairy and crêpes from The Flip Side, to name but a couple.
For those who like classical music, there will be a gala concert by Skipton Building Society Camerata, who will perform a programme of Mozart in Bolton Abbey Priory.
Voices of Craven, featuring soprano Sarah Fox, will perform a special concert centred around A Sense of Belonging.
The festival fortnight finishes with a double whammy. Friday Night’s Party Night will include a concert by British Electric Foundation, featuring Martyn Ware, Peter Hook, Peter Hooton, Glen Matlock, Jaki Graham, Mari Wilson and Glenn Gregory.
Then on the Saturday will be the first ever Festival in the Field Day, with local bands The Scene, Chill Pill, The Diamond Soul Band and ISSIMO, breakthrough acts Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys, Coco and the Butterfields and Bella and Polly, topped off by indie-rock icons The Fratellis.
Festival director Kate Beard said: “As an arts charity, none of this would be possible without our sponsors, local volunteers and Festival Friends. Their contribution to the festival secures its future, enabling this amazing event to continue in the Dales.”
Tickets are still available for some events, including Festival in the Field Marquee events. To check availability and to book tickets, visit grassington-festival.org.uk or call the box office on 01756 752691.
Festival events are as follows (in Grassington unless stated otherwise):
Pre-festival workshops:
Opening procession puppet making, 1pm-4pm Saturday and Sunday, Grassington Primary School
Samba Workshops 10am-12.30pm Sunday, Grassington Primary School
Exhibitions running throughout:
Wildflower Meadow, June 15-30, The Square
The Land – Layers Through Time, 2pm-5pm (opening) June 16 and then 10.30am-5pm, June 17 to September 2, The Wishbone Gallery and The Folk Museum
Open Studios – A Sense of Belonging, June 16-July 1, various places around Grassington
Friday, June 15
The Octagon - Me and My Bee, 6pm
Festival Hall – Swing Zazou and Zoot Zazou, 8pm
Saturday, June 16
Fell Grange Farm, Burnsall - Dry Stone Walling (beginners), 10am-3.30pm
Festival in the Square, 11am-4pm
Family Meadow Walk, Grassington National Park Centre, 2pm-4pm
The Octagon – The Greatest Showman, 5pm
Festival Hall – Noble Jacks and Huw Eddy and the Carnival, 8pm
Sunday, June 17
The Square - Food Festival, 10am-3.30pm
Festival Hall – Festival Service, 10am
Bolton Abbey Priory Church – Gala Concert, 8pm
Monday, June 18
The Octagon – Liverpool Cowkeepers, 11am
The Square – Moth Magic, 9.30pm
Gamekeepers Inn, Threshfield – Niamh, 8pm
Tuesday, June 19
Games Room, Festival Hall – Moth Magic Printing, 11am-4pm
The Square – Festival Picnic with Gudrun’s Sisters, 1pm-2pm
Archaeology of Lea Green Guided Walk, 1pm-4pm
Scargill House, Kettlewell – Peter Ryder and Helen Brocklehurst, 7.30pm
Skipton Town Hall – Kathryn Stott, 7.30pm
The Octagon – Chris Simpson’s The Visitor, 8pm
Wednesday, June 20
The Square – Festival Picnic with Callum Spencer, 1pm-2pm
Festival Hall – Putting The Band Back Together, 8pm
Devonshire Arms – King B’s, 9pm
Thursday, June 21
The Square – Festival Picnic with Dead Man’s Uke, 1pm-2pm
Stump Cross Caverns – Beneath Our Feet, 5pm/6pm/7pm
Gamekeepers Inn, Threshfield – Gin Festival, 4pm-8pm
Festival Hall – An Evening With Chris Mason and special quest MP Tracy Brabin, 8pm
Foresters Arms – Overload, 9pm
Friday, June 22
Ladies Room, Festival Hall – Made With Music Tuneful Tots, 10.30am
The Octagon – Hanneke Dye, Born A Hidden Child, 11am
The Square – Festival Picnic with Rum Doodle, 1pm-2pm
Stump Cross Caverns – Beneath Our Feet, 5pm/6pm/7pm
Festival Hall – The Joe Stilgoe Trio, 8pm
Saturday, June 23
Festival In The Square, 11am-7pm
Fell Grange Farm, Burnsall – Dry Stone Walling (intermediate), 10am-3.30pm
Festival Hall – Shadow Puppetry and Animation, noon-4pm
Stump Cross Caverns – Beneath Our Feet, 5pm/6pm/7pm
Methodist Church, Grassington – Tunstill’s Men, 4pm
St Michael the Archangel Church, Kirkby Malham – Voices of Craven, 7pm
Live at the Festival Hall (Comedy Night), 8pm
Sunday, June 24
Stories in the Square, 11am-2pm
The Octagon – A Strange New Space, 2.30pm
Church House – Grassington Embroiders’ Guild ‘Pearl and Passion’, 10am-3pm
Congregational Church, Grassington – Raven, 2pm
Scargill House, Kettlewell – Benyounes Quartet, 4pm
The Octagon – #Storytime: Joanne Harris, 8pm
Congregational Church, Grassington – JazzLyrical, 8pm
Monday, June 25
Church House – Grassington Embroiders’ Guild ‘Pearl and Passion’, 10am-3pm
Festival in the Field Marquee – An Evening With Sir Michael Parkinson, 8pm
Tuesday, June 26
Festival Hall – SWARM: A Creation of Many Hands by Laney Birkhead, 12pm-4pm
Games Room Festival Hall – Food For Thought with Laney Birkhead, 1pm
Festival in the Field Marquee – Jason Manford, 8pm
Wednesday, June 27
Festival Hall – SWARM: A Creation of Many Hands by Laney Birkhead, 12pm-4pm
Games Room Festival Hall – Food For Thought with Chris Clark and Neil Heseltine, 1pm
Festival in the Field Marquee – Smokie, 8pm
Thursday, June 28
The Courtyard Dairy, Austwick – Cheese Making with Andy Swinscoe – 9.30am-3pm
Games Room Festival Hall – Food For Thought with Joanna Mahler, 1pm
Craven Arms, Appletreewick – The Moonbeams, 7.30pm
Friday, June 29
Ladies Room, Festival Hall – Made With Music Tuneful Tots, 10.30am
Festival Hall – SWARM: A Creation of Many Hands by Laney Birkhead, noon-4pm
Festival in the Field Marquee – Friday Night’s Party Night with British Electric Foundation and special guests plus DJ, 8pm
Saturday, June 30
Festival in the Field Day – The Fratellis and entertainment for all the family, noon-11pm
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