Festival countdown begins

[John Dean]

The countdown has begun for the second Darlington Arts Festival which will begin in late April and run throughout May at a wide range of venues across the borough. 

Co-ordinated by Darlington for Culture (DfC), the group which speaks for arts and culture in the area, the festival has more than fifty events on its programme.

Many of the organisations and individuals supporting the event are reflected in the programme, which

includes:

* Darlington for Culture will be working in partnership with Darlington Borough Council to stage an Arts Showcase in the Market Place on Sunday May 11, including

stalls, workshops  and entertainment, including music and dancing, between 11am and 4pm

* A series of music events, including the Darlington Jazz Festival at various venues  between April 24-27, launching the Darlington Arts Festival in spectacular fashion, and throughout the month there are other musical events ranging from rhythm ‘n‘ blues to folk.  For more information on the Jazz Festival, please visit 

www.darlingtonjazzfestival.co.uk or call 07538772368. Tickets always sell out fast so early booking is recommended.

*  After the success of the first Jabberwocky Market last October, Battersea Arts Centre returns to Darlington during the festival with a raft of fantastic new shows between May 15-18. Once again, the festival will be supported by Creative Darlington, as well as the core funders, Arts Council England and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. The hub in the Indoor Market will be back and there will be performances at venues around the town centre, including a grand launch party atr Voodoo Café. More information is available at

www.jabberwockymarket.org.uk

* Literary events at Café Create and other venues, featuring readings and writing workshops

* Art-based events including exhibitions and workshops at various venues, including a nationally-important art lending project. Art Lending Library, a project by Market Gallery and Walker & Bromwich, will run at Crown Street Art Gallery, Crown Street Library, and invite the people of the Borough of Darlington to borrow works of art and enjoy them within their homes, work places and community centres

* A Black and White Film Festival to be run by Darlington Film Club at the Forum in Borough Road and at Voodoo Café, in Skinnergate

* Darlington Green Theatre presenting a Reading of  Under Milk Wood A Play for Voices  by Dylan Thomas at Cantina/Voodoo Cafe  Skinnergate on May 18 and 19.  Six decades after the first reading of this famous play, Green Theatre bring it to life in the way the author intended.

DfC Chair John Dean, one of the festival organising committee, said: “Last year’s inaugural festival was tremendous and this year’s promises to be even better. It’s an exciting line up and just shows the sheer range and quality of the area‘s arts scene.”

Yvonne Preston, DfC’s Artistic Director and one of the team organising the Showcase on May 11, said: “

The Arts Showcase will be an opportunity to find out the kind of things going on in the borough. It will be a fun-filled day with lots to see and do.“

Stephen Wiper,  Creative Darlington Manager, said: “Darlington Arts Festival 2014 is a credit to Darlington for Culture, the groups and volunteers involved, demonstrating quality, diversity and ambition. Creative Darlington is happy to support the marketing of the Festival this year alongside particular areas of programme, including the Art Lending Library and Jabberwocky Market.

“Creative Darlington is committed to excellence and inclusion in the arts. We’re ambitious to make Darlington a place where art happens, where the arts matter and where the arts and creativity are central to Darlington's future identify and economic success and look forward to another successful year.”

Kirsty Dunn,  one of the organisers of the Darlington Jazz Festival, said:  “

Darlington Jazz Festival 2014 is excited to be at the start of what promises to be a fantastic, diverse Arts Festival for Darlington and our region. This is the third year the Jazz Festival has run and we are excited to raise the bar once again by providing a platform for both local and regional talent, yet again attracting incredibly talented national artists prominent on today’s jazz scene such as Mark Nightingale and The Al Wood Nine.”

Caroline Pearce, Producer, whose Darlington-based company, Luxi, runs Jabberwocky Market said: “It’s fantastic that we are able to work with Darlington for Culture more closely this time and bring to their programme some of the very best in small-scale theatre. We are very collaborative in ethos and believe that by working together, we will be able to bring to the town the best possible opportunities to see and do arts and theatre.”

David Jubb, Artistic Director at Battersea Arts Centre, which has helped bring  Jabberwocky Market to Darlington, said: “We are proud to tour such exciting productions and strengthen the partnership between London and

these regional partners, playing a part in their visionary initiatives and building on our mission to invent the future of theatre.”

Among the musical acts appearing will be The FABS, who will be at the Forum Music Centre on

Thursday May 15 with a show that celebrates the 1960s Mersey Beat era, and their manager and band member Steve Quillon said: “It will be a pulsating live show that recaptures the excitement of the beat groups’ performances at The Cavern Club.”

* Creative Darlington, Darlington Borough Council, Cleveland College of Art and Design, Resilient Business Systems and Ephemeral Web Design are among other organisations supporting the festival.

* DfC’s website www.darlingtonforculture.org has full details of the programme and a brochure will be distributed around the town nearer the time.