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Encounter Festival has revealed its programme for 2024.
Preston’s free festival of arts and culture is set to take place at locations across the city centre on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September.
This year’s festival promises an array of performances and activities designed to engage and inspire audiences of all ages.
On Saturday you can play on the giant marble run, get involved in a silent disco, take part in a Bollywood Dance workshop, and enjoy epic shows across the Bus Station and the Flag Market. There will be choirs and Qawwali on the Community and Traditions Stage to showcase the fabulous groups that perform in Preston all year round.
The Ribble of Dreams installations will be available to view in the shop fronts surrounding the Flag Market, where from 6.30pm you can have a drink and a dance to DJs Soulhouse Avenue and Buddha, playing soul, reggae and more.
Saturday night will also see the Torchlight Procession make its way from Moor Park to the Flag Market for the Firework Finale. There will be stilt walkers, drummers, morris dancers and fire galore, and leading the procession will be newly-commissioned brass band BRAZEN, which celebrates women brass players.
On Sunday the festival is focussed in Winckley Square with six family shows, a range of food stalls, games and craft activities to fill the day. You might even chance upon an Invisible Man walking down Fishergate.
Every year Encounter commissions new work for Preston audiences and this year the festival is working with Lancashire companies imitating the dog and Blaze Arts.
Read more: Preston’s Encounter Festival secures £96,000 from Arts Council England
Councillor Anna Hindle, Cabinet Member for Culture and Arts at Preston City Council, said: “Encounter Festival brings people from all walks of life together to celebrate arts and culture whilst nurturing creativity, ambition, and community spirit in Preston and beyond.
“With its diverse programming and strong focus on local engagement, the festival is poised to continue its growth and success, providing unique artistic experiences and fostering a sense of pride and ownership among residents and visitors alike.
“It is exciting to see the festival develop and thrive year on year. We look forward to welcoming even more visitors to our city this September.”
In pictures: Encounter Festival 2023 across Preston city centre
Read on to find out what’s on when and where at this year’s Encounter Festival.
All weekend
Ribble of Dreams by imitating the dog
Flag Market
Peer into magical story boxes for an extraordinary journey through the city, across landscapes both real and fantastical, strange and familiar. Ribble of Dreams is a story of escape, of exploration and of discovery made by imitating the dog and the people of Preston. The installations will be visible across a trail of shop windows in the city centre.
If you want to get involved in creating these real and imagined tales of our city, you can join imitating the dog for a workshop in The Guild Hall Foyer on Sunday 15 September at 11am or 2pm.
Saturday 21 September
Family Catwalk Extravaganza
12.45pm-1.20pm | 2.20pm-2.55pm
Flag Market
Bring your glamour, glitz and grace and come together in a fabulous celebration of self-expression. Four dancers go head to head in a dance, fashion and lip sync competition in an interactive event where the audience decides the winner. Stamp your feet, clap your hands and shake your noise makers to show your appreciation for the performers.
Betty Brown Bags
1.25pm-1.55pm | 3.10pm-3.40pm
Flag Market
Inspired by a traditional folk play from Lancaster, Betty Brown Bags and her musical sidekick Billy celebrate the strength and resilience of Northern working class culture. An all singing, dancing, spoon playing interactive show for all ages.
Wild Rumpus Giant Marble Run
12pm-4pm (drop-in)
Flag Market
From broomsticks to lampshades, piping to bamboo, this giant upcycled marble run is a ridiculously playful invention. Grab a cedar ball, and see if you can get it to roll all the way to the bottom.
WILD
12pm-12.45pm | 3pm-3.45pm
Bus Station Plaza
What is it to be wild? WILD, the daring, dance-circus production from Motionhouse, explores our disconnect with the natural environment. In our modern lives, is the wild still shaping our behaviour?
Plot 17
1.25pm-2.05pm | 3.50pm-4.30pm
Bus Station Plaza
A hip-hop garden festival for families. Join underground hip-hop hero Kenny Baraka, aka The Green Man, and DJ Conrad Kira as they work to save the environment one sick track at a time. Plot 17 is a mobile block party travelling the world raising awareness, inspiring action and spreading the message of making things green, with a soundtrack guaranteed to make you want to plant a tree and help the seeds grow.
Let’s Grow Preston
12pm-4.30pm (drop-in)
Bus Station Plaza
Let’s Grow Preston is delivering an allotment show with a difference. There will be lots of information on how to grow your own food celebrating the generosity of the allotmenteers of Preston.
Same But Different
2.05pm-3.50pm
Preston Bus Station
Same But Different is an accessible silent disco DJ’d by The Fat Britney and Matthew Beautyman, produced by Blaze Arts Access All Areas producers, a group of young disabled artists led by local theatre maker Helena Ascough.
Some details are still to be confirmed, but if you are a hearing aid or cochlear implant user and want to get involved with the silent disco, take your radio aid or mini mic, or similar device, that can connect to your hearing devices via Bluetooth and that has a mini jack input.
Encounter Voices – Lights That Lead Us There
1pm-5.30pm
Community and Traditions Stage (outside The Guild Hall)
The singing programme Encounter Voices has been running since 2018, and in 2024, it is collaborating with Lancashire’s year long celebration of grassroots singing, County of Song. Lights That Lead Us There welcomes in the autumn with songs of love, longing and light including familiar favourites and new works by composer and choir leader Loz Kaye.
There’s still a chance to take part by joining one of the workshops at The Guild Hall Lancaster Suite at 11am on Saturday 31 August, Saturday 14 September and even at the festival itself.
Torchlight Procession
7pm-9pm
The Torchlight Procession starts at 7pm, while the Firework Finale starts at 9pm. The best viewing locations are listed as the Flag Market and in from of the Minster and The Guild Hall. The procession will feature BRAZEN, a new Encounter Festival commissioned band celebrating the finest women brass players, and The Lumens, a stilt duo covered in colour changing fibre optic lights and the mirrored suits they wear reflect and enhance the lights and their surroundings.
Preston City Mela will serve up their usual celebration of South Asian arts, while Caribbean Carnival will add noise and their wonderful brightly coloured costumes. Hellfyre Magpie fire border morris team and Rivington North West Morris Dancers, plus some of the best Carnival Morris troupes will bring the sparkle.
Local dance schools and bands including Jenisha Patel’s Bollywood Dance School, Worldwise Samba, Jazz Swing Dance, Bay Beat and Cacophony Arkestra will also join the procession.
Sunday 22 September
Everywhere’s A Beach
12pm-12.35pm | 2pm–2.35pm
Winckley Square
A day at the beach unlike any other in this high energy, circus theatre show. Perfect for the whole family, Everywhere’s a Beach is a charmingly ridiculous performance taking place on a giant revolving beach parasol. This dynamic, dizzying and downright daft show will leave you dancing with delight.
Skiband
11.35am-11.55am | 1.25pm-1.50pm | 3.15pm-3.35pm
Winckley Square
Calypso, ska, reggae, funk and pop performed with a serious sense of humour, Skiband are based in West Yorkshire and Liverpool and bring a repertoire of songs guaranteed to make you smile.
Come face to face with the man who isn’t there. A living, breathing science experiment gone wrong. Contained and stewarded by his mysterious doctor, witness the scientific marvel and learn more about how he came to (not) be. Interact with him as he explores his new powers, but be warned you may see more (or less) than you bargained for.
The Invisible Man
11am-11.30am | 12.30pm-1pm | 2pm-2.30pm
Fishergate / Winckley Street
Magical Story Jars
12pm-3.30pm (drop-in)
Winckley Square
Take part in a fun story and craft activity inspired by the Lamb of St. Wilfrid found on the Preston coat of arms. The Chief Story Makers will be on hand to provide dollops of enthusiasm, help and support. Suitable for ages 3+.
Mughal Miniatures: Animal Paradise
12.45pm-1.10pm | 2.45pm-3.10pm
Winckley Square
A fun and upbeat outdoor performance event for all the family, which celebrates and takes inspiration from the exquisite traditional art of Indian and Persian miniature painting. Performers in sumptuous costumes create vibrant and colourful mini worlds of dance, music and puppetry.
Horse + Bamboo Games Emporium
12pm-3.30pm (drop-in)
Winckley Square
Play some retro games with Sarah and Andy. Battle with the giant Connect Four and try to hook a tiny duck. Fun for all the family to play between the shows and music.
Best of Lancashire
1pm-6pm
The Orchard, Preston Market
Formerly Best of Preston, this event has been part of Encounter since 2022 and showcases live, original music from around the county. This year, four original bands and four singer-songwriters will entertain local music fans at this free event. The Victorian canopy provides perfect cover for an outdoor music event.
For more information, visit the Encounter Festival website.
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This story was made possible by 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, you can submit it for our event listings and/or send details to [email protected] for us to cover it as a story on the Blog.
