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A theatre, music and dance festival is coming to Poulton-le-Fylde.
The first-ever Spot On Festival will be full of live performances for all ages.
Taking place from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 June, the festival will include some free and some ticketed events, plus an artisan makers market.
The event is being hosted by Poulton-le-Fylde Community Hall, the medieval Parish Church and the Library – as well as unexpected places and spaces around the town centre.
Opening the festival on the evening of Friday 14 June will be Monster Ceilidh Band, who ramp up traditional folk with with intense electronics from some of the UK’s finest folk musicians.
From the other side of the globe, Eastern Canadian folk band Rum Ragged are set to bring their signature brand of Newfoundland folk to the festival.
Read more: Band bringing folk music from their Newfoundland home to Preston and Chorley
Setting a gentler pace, Meraki Duo – winners of the 2023 II International Chamber Music Competition for Flute and Guitar in Spain – will perform a varied programme of classical music in the beautiful surroundings of St Chad’s Church.
Soprano Nicola Mills will perform her popular Opera for The People, asking the audience to choose their programme from her song menu, which is full of popular opera, classical songs and musicals.
Music and dance lovers can enjoy The Swan of Salen, a unique blend of Tchaikovsky’s iconic Swan Lake music and traditional Gaelic melodies played live by The Willow Trio, with enchanting ballet footage projected behind the harpists as they perform.
Bringing the festival to a close, the popular Swing Commanders present their take on well-crafted songs from the 1930s to the 1950s, from American Songbook classics to Western Swing and Novelty songs.
Elsewhere in the festival programme there’s plenty for young audiences and families, with Ten in the Bed celebrating the power of imaginary play, Gemma Bond, the Pirate Princess searching for a safe space to land in a children’s outdoor pole-theatre show, and Splat! a funny show about art and creativity.
Families can step inside the Library at the Edge of the World; meet a giant tortoise and then dance their socks off at MiniFest, a gig created especially for children on the afternoon of Sunday 16 June.
Robert Howell, Director, Culturapedia: Spot On Festival, said: ““After 30 thirty years of bringing professional performing arts to village halls and libraries across Lancashire, Spot On and Poulton-le-Fylde Community Hall bring you the first Spot On Festival. All the goodness of Spot On and more crammed into one weekend in the historic market town of Poulton-le-Fylde.”
Spot on Festival is designed to be welcoming for everyone, with a wide variety of events including Bhangra dancing sessions with CBeebies’ Sohan Kailey, puppets in the Marketplace, comedy from Kate Fox, and fishmongers Cliff and Nestor wandering Poulton trying to escape the seagulls in Never a Gull Moment.
Read more: Family-friendly Lancashire Festival returning to Preston’s Miller Park for 2024
Between shows, the Marketplace Festival Stage, hosted on Saturday 15 June by Coastal Radio’s Scott Gallagher, will be home to local talent, with a wide variety of community groups performing, showing grassroots arts and culture at its best.
To make this all happen, Spot On are calling out for volunteers to support. If you think you could offer your skills, time and enthusiasm, email hello@spotonlancashire.co.uk.
Spot On, run by Culturapedia, is Lancashire’s rural and library-touring theatre network. They promote over 50 shows a year, but this is the first time they’ve held a festival of this scale over a weekend.
Poulton-le-Fylde Community Hall, Culturapedia and Wyre Council are hosting the Spot On Festival: Poulton-le-Fylde with support from Wyre Council and Arts Council England. Visit the Spot On Lancashire Festival website for the full programme.
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This story was made possible by support from you, our readers, and a host of organisations in the city, through our Crowdfund Lancashire appeal, which unlocked support from the Lancashire Culture and Sport Fund provided by Lancashire County Council. You can see all our coverage and, if you know of an arts project or event in the city we should be covering, send details to contactus@blogpreston.co.uk.
