Holmfirth Arts Festival goes online for 2020 as digital festival

A POPULAR Yorkshire arts festival is going online for its annual celebration in 2020.
Holmfirth Arts Festival, now in its 12th year, is set to take place over the weekend of 18-20 September as a digital festival, with performances available to experience online, for free, over three days.
The online event will be streamed over three nights and is hosted by Nick Ahad, BBC radio presenter, journalist comedian, playwright and much more,
The festival line-up includes award winning comedian Kieran Hodgson, new cello music from Slow Cooked Louie, written especially for this year's festival based on a JG Ballard’s environmental novel, The Drowned World.
Spectacular outdoor shows will include Urban Astronaut and The Whale (a 50 foot installation) and Kit and Kaboodle from Thingumajig Theatre, which tells stories from around the world, will also be featured.
Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers, from Leeds, will bring the online festival to a celebratory close, with an eclectic mix of songs covering David Attenborough to Seaweed Under the Sofa.
Closer to home Samba Na Rua (formerly Honley Samba Band), Xylosound – a band of musicians with learning disabilities and the Holmfirth Writers’ Group, will all perform.
Bev Adams, director of Holmfirth Arts Festival, said: “We knew with the restrictions surrounding coronavirus and with no foresight of what the future might hold, that it would be impossible to plan to hold the festival as we know it.
“We attract thousands of people over the course of the weekend. The celebratory annual parade through the streets of Holmfirth, which sees hundreds of people at walking with banners and artwork at close proximity, would also be problematic.
"The move to digital for 2020 felt right.”
She said that thanks to additional emergency funds from Arts Council England, has been able to engage two excellent West Yorkhsire based film and media experts – John Coombes of Bikeshed Media and Tim Copsey Film.
The festival usually takes place in and around the cobbled, hilly streets of Holmfirth at indoor and outdoor venues such as Holmfirth Parish Churchyard, the Civic Hall and the market hall, as well as in open spaces such as Holmside Gardens.
This year’s festival theme is the environment, in all its diversity.
Bev added: “All of the events and performances from poets, comedians, musicians, actors and artists will be free online, via our website and social media. People will be able to sign up to attend the on-line events, so we can start to build a festive community with our online audience.
“The online festival will comprise a series of three short magazine programmes on each of the three days in September.
“Nick Ahad will introduce and chat around the performances, some of them will be live and others pre-recorded, but we aim to provide amazing entertainment and send it right into people’s homes.”
The festival is working in partnership this year with Woven in Kirklees and is funded by Arts Council England Project Grants and Emergency Funding, National Lottery Awards for All, Kirklees Council, Bright Green Community Trust, Holme Valley Parish Council and Longley Farm.Donations are also welcome to help secure the future of the festival.
www.holmfirthartsfestival.co.uk for updates.

For more information visit http://www.holmfirthartsfestival.co.uk/