The sixth Burnley Community Festival hits Queens Park in August with an exciting mix of local and regional musical talent.

Sunday August 31st will see an impressive line up of entertainment, information, food and family fun.

Veka will sponsor the main stage, and are promising a lively line-up of local music.

This will include showcases from the Manchester Samba band, adding a real carnival feel to what will be a fun-packed day.

One of Manchester’s most exciting new solo artists ‘Lucy and the Caterpillar’ will be performing later in the day. Lucy is a Burnley girl originally, and hopes to dazzle her home town with her quirky back catalogue of touching retro pop songs, and of course her trusty caterpillar.

Local band ‘Say’ will also be bringing their original sounds to the stage and the Burnley Youth Theatre will be putting on performances.

The Community Festival is also proud host to the explosive final performance of the Sketch youth arts group.

Burnley Council Leader, Gordon Birtwistle said:
“We are very excited to have confirmed Veka as sponsors of the main stage.

“The entertainment has always been a big element of the Community Festival and we are confident that this years line up will appeal to all of our visitors.

“Over the coming weeks there will be further news about the days activities and events so keep looking out for information.”

As in previous years the festival will have the community tent, where local community organisations can promote the work that they have been doing. It’s free to book a table, all we ask is that you make your display as interactive and engaging as possible.

For more information about booking a table or the festival itself please contact Alyson Dobson on 01282 664417 or email adobson@burnley.gov.uk.

Information for Editors

Lucy and the Caterpillar

"The hotly tipped Lucy & the Caterpillar has an enchanting style, captivating the audience with her perky reflective musings of alcoholic dreams and matters of the heart" XFM.

Lucy & The Caterpillar, (Born in Burnley) Manchester’s most exciting new solo artist, released her single Lucy’s Opinion on 28th April 2008. The single is available in a limited edition hand stitched felt sleeve, designed and made by Lucy herself, as well via download.
Lucy is an incredibly talented 20year old musician from Manchester who has been making waves in the last year alongside her ‘caterpillar’, the pet name for her trusty acoustic guitar.
A poster girl for the vintage inspired, Lucy is a modern day Mancunian Jean Seberg. Taking inspiration from everyday situations, Lucy writes touching retro pop songs. Live gigs see Lucy taking to the stage equipped with her ‘caterpillar’, her hand knitted lucky mascot Olivia and a bucket load of wit, selected future shows will see her heading out on the road with a full band.

SAY 

Say are one of the only bands in Britain to be operating successfully OUTSIDE of the music industry and have made a conscious effort to form a whole new ethos in music presentation to the masses.

Say have a global fan base and have recently had an incredible rise in popularity in German, so much so they are currently promoting and selling their new German single ‘Yr Kicks’ with outstanding reviews.
Say operate a fair-trade policy so all money made from sales go directly back into music production. They aim to keep their carbon footprint at next to nothing by using recycled paper and vegetable ink for any promotional material.
Their music is some of the most original, memorable and accessible since The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

Manchester School of Samba

Manchester School of Samba (MSS) formed in March 1995 to foster the appreciation of Brazilian Carnival culture through rhythm, melody, dance and simple costumes. MSS have provided an often life enhancing introduction to percussion and dance for hundreds of people as well as an opportunity for some to build on their knowledge and strengths and be inspired to subsequently form their own bands. We still focus on carnival art forms, and are open to all people. We currently have 70+ fully fledged members including dancers and drummers. For special occasions we also like to include a brass section and puppeteers.

Sketch

Sketch is a three-year arts project commissioned by Burnley Borough Council, BPRCVS, LCC and the Lottery Fund.

It was designed for young people aged 11 – 16 from the three priority areas in Burnley: Stoneyholme with Daneshouse; Stoops with Hagher Clough; Burnley Wood.

The aim of Sketch is to deliver a programme of creative workshops, devised through consultation with young people living in the priority neighbourhoods. The workshops are designed to supports and empower young people through the significant changes happening in Burnley. The project aims to help young people to ‘sketch’ out and inspire their future, provide them with important life skills and a more empathetic view of their present and future environment.

Last year Sketch had a very varied plan of summer workshops with some great results culminating in performances at the Community festival. The young people had the opportunity to show off their new skills on stage whilst having a fantastic time.

Now in it’s final year Sketch will be attempting to deliver an even more daring programme of events to showcase at this years festival.

BYT

Burnley Youth Theatre (BYT) was founded in 1973. Today the organisation is heralded as one of the most advanced youth theatres in the country and is at the forefront of community cohesion activities with young people in Burnley.
BYT works with an average of 450 young people a week age 5 - 25 years.  The year round programme encompasses all art forms through a range of training workshops, projects and partnership schemes.

One of Burnley’s top employers, VEKA Plc, are sponsoring this years Community Festival Main stage, one of the top attractions of the sixth annual festival.

The stage will provide top quality entertainment throughout the day with a packed programme of local and regional talent, along with performances from SKETCH, Burnley Youth Theatre and the Manchester Samba Band.

VEKA’s HR Manager Gabriella Hammond says:
"VEKA is delighted to be involved with this year’s Burnley Community Festival.
“Burnley is such a vibrant town, with so much to offer, and events such as this reward the people who matter most, the residents of the town.
“We’ve been part of the community for over 20 years; and with the majority of employees coming from the local area this really is a great opportunity for us to support the event and the town."

Burnley Council’s Marketing Manager Stewart Ingham added:
“Funding for events such as the Community Festival gets harder to come by each year and although Burnley Council put a great deal of time, effort and funds into the festival, we still need to attract support from local businesses”.
“VEKA’S decision to support this years festival is a big bonus and we hope to build on this partnership in the future”.
 
Make a note on your calendars for Burnley’s 6th Annual Community Festival in Queens Park (one of Burnley’s Green Flag award winning parks) on Sunday 31st August from noon until 6.30pm. Everyone can expect a fun packed day that promises to have something for all the family to enjoy.
 
For more information please contact Alyson Dobson at Burnley Council on 01282 425011.

The countdown has begun for the 6th annual Burnley Community Festival, and fingers are being crossed for sunshine!

As ever, there is an action packed line up with something for all the family to suit all tastes, as Burnley Council present a varied and exciting schedule of entertainment.

This years’ festival is next Sunday, August 31st, at Queens Park, and between 12 and 6.30pm expect to be impressed with the range of talents and performances taking place throughout the park.

Not only will the Veka main stage have a top line up of local and regional acts, there will be a variety of tents full of interesting displays.

The Veka main stage will proudly present ‘Lucy and the Caterpillar’, a Burnley girl who is now playing her way to the big time in Manchester with her guitar, and SAY, a local band who are making waves operating outside of the music industry. They are guaranteed to deliver a top performance.

The dance tent will feature both workshops and performances, the top act being the Manchester School of Samba, followed by break dance and Indian dance workshops. There will even be a good old-fashioned barn dance!

For the younger guests and those who enjoy the outdoors, there will be the mini woodland festival, with story telling, face painting, woodwork demos and much more.

Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled as your wander from the different areas of the park, there are sure to be a couple of rock stars on stilts roaming the park, and some unusual rubbish bins and mischievous bushes trying to trick visitors.

If none of this sounds active enough, then why not get involved in the climbing wall or bungee run? There is also going to be the chance to get involved in some cycling with ‘The Cycling Project’ and staff from ‘onyerbike’ cycles, doing demos and giving out advice to cyclists.

The Sketch project will be making 3 performances on the Veka main stage, using the theme of colour to present dance, mc’ing and beatboxing to the crowds, they will also be using the Photomobile throughout the day, giving people the chance to try their hand at some photography and developing.

Burnley Youth Theatre are not to be forgotten, as they put on plays and bands intermittently throughout the day, and if this weren’t enough…there’s the community tent, faith tent, Burnley Council’s healthy lifestyles team providing advice, and this year welcomes the food tent.

There will be cooking demonstrations from the Usher restaurant, Leagrims Organic Diary, Oddies and the Little Green Man as part of the Pennine Lancashire food festival.

So come along, there really is something for everyone, it’s a day not to be missed!!

For more information please contact Burnley Council on 01282 425011.

Not even the rain could stand in the way of people having a good time as thousands turned out with umbrellas and wellies to the 6th annual Burnley Community Festival in Queens Park on Sunday.

To top off a brilliant day, Burnley resident Brian Robinson was the lucky winner of the programme prize draw, scooping himself a brand new, 21 gear Land Rover Chagan mountain bike, much to the delight of his son Brandon.

Courtesy of On Yer Bike, on Queens Lancashire Way, this excellent bike worth £300 was up for grabs by filling in a slip in the festival programme, which hundreds of visitors took part in before 2BR’s Gemma Baron announced the winner on stage at the close of the day.

Councillor Charlie Bullas, Burnley Council’s Executive Member for Leisure and Recreation said: “We are delighted with how many people came along to see what was on offer in the park this weekend.
“We’ve had a pretty poor summer weather wise and there had been moments when we didn’t know if we could go ahead, but once again we’ve shown that despite the good old British weather we can still have a great day out!
“Thanks to everyone for coming along and making it the event it was.”

Despite the showers later on in the day the crowds were enjoying the mix of music, dance, and other activities, and many a face painted child could be seen wandering round the park.

There was allsorts going on, with food demonstrations in one of the tents, and a mini woodland festival ahead of Towneley Park’s Heritage and Woodland day on Sunday 14th September.

Local bands Say and Lucy and the Caterpillar captivated crowds on the VEKA main stage, after performances earlier in the day from Sketch and Shelles Belles cheerleading troop.

Burnley Community Festival is organised and run by Burnley Council.

Ends