Watch Holmfirth Arts Festival online from your sofa this weekend

A POPULAR Yorkshire arts festival is going online for its annual celebration in 2020.
See all the usual peformances and high quality arts from Holmfirth Arts Festival from your sofa this weekend - 18-20 September.
You can watch from 7.30pm each night via the Festival's Facebook page or website to see a fantastic line up, including a special set from Boff Whalley and Daniel Bye, a short film made by Holmfirth born comedian Kieran Hodgson and Biscuit Head and the Biscuit Badgers, will bring the festival to a close with an eclectic mix of songs.
The online event will be hosted live by Nick Ahad, BBC radio presenter, journalist comedian, playwright and much more,
The line-up also includes a 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.
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 usually attract thousands of people over the course of the weekend.
"But for 2020 the move to digital 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, but donations are welcome, to keep the festival going for next year."
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.
More details and how to watch at www.holmfirthartsfestival.co.uk

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