Lincoln Festival Programme Unveiled
by Baron Halpenny, LincsMag Editor.
Date: 29 April 2013
The Lincoln Inspired community-focused arts festival gets ready to hit venues around Lincoln city on Tuesday May 7 and will run through until Sunday May 12.
So what can Lincoln residents and vistors expect? Well for a start there will be a Lord of the arts, a celebration of 50 years of Doctor Who, which is a must for all thos time lord fans, a TweetUp and a chance to go Where the Wild Things Are are among the highlights of this major new Lincoln festival.
The festival has a special emphasis on words and is run by a not-for-profit company and a team of enthusiastic volunteers led by Lincoln-based arts consultant Sara Bullimore.
“We’ve worked hard to bring together a programme to appeal to as many people as possible. We’ve also tried to keep ticket prices as low as we can too – and some events are free,” said Sara.
The programme is a mix of headline acts, writing workshops, music, comedy, conversation, food, film, theatre and events for children and schools.
In a major coup for Lincoln Inspired broadcaster and writer Lord Melvyn Bragg will be in the city on the day his long-awaited new novel Grace and Mary is published. He is in conversation with BBC Lincolnshire’s Nicola Gilroy at the Drill Hall on Thursday May 9.
Doctor Who and More...
Fans of Doctor Who can join in with a celebration to mark 50 years of the BBC series with writer Terrance Dicks; Graeme Harper, who is the only director who has worked on the ‘old’ and ‘new’ incarnations of the show; and actor Richard Franklin, sidekick to the Doctor’s ally Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
The trio will be joined at the Drill Hall on Saturday May 11 by Siren FM’s Alex Lewzcuk – and a Dalek!
Lincoln Inspired is linking up with the Lincoln Jazz Festival on Friday May 10 to welcome acclaimed singer Claire Martin and the Montpellier Cello Quartet to the Drill Hall, while on Saturday night top comic Mitch Benn – famed for his Radio 4 appearances on The Now Show – is at the Free School Lane venue.
“But the festival is not just about the big headline events, although we are delighted to have secured names like writers John Boyne and Simon Scarrow in our first year,” said Sara.
“It’s about inspiring people to come along, listen, join in or even have a go at writing and performing themselves. We’re also working with lots of different venues, large and small, across the city to try to make everything as accessible as possible for visitors.”
Workshops
To help the festival achieve this there is a programme of workshops for aspiring writers covering genres such as children’s, poetry and science fiction and offering tips on how to get work published. And performers can take their place at the open mic sessions which are part of The Lyric Lounge on Sunday May 12.
Children can enjoy finding out Where the Wild Things Are at a Storybook Days (caps corr) session based on the classic tale or can take part in a bear hunt with Rhubarb Theatre, both on Saturday May 11.
Throughout the festival there are free storytelling sessions with Bookstart Bear at city libraries and a free screening of a family film at The Collection.
For The Older Groups
For those who are older the events include the chance to take tea with the Mad Hatter, enjoy a look behind the scenes at the University of Lincoln, go on a Scrawlcrawl around the city or look to the skies with astronomer Paul Money.
And there is more ... try wine tasting with expert Geoff Adams at the Lincoln Hotel, step out on an urban herb walk, sample an evening with a Spanish theme at the Bowl Full tapas bar or join in with a breakfast TweetUp at the university’s Book and Latte cafe to discuss why Lincoln is such an inspirational city and in such a wonderful county.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve managed to achieve in just a year,” said Sara. “We’ve also had to do a lot of fundraising and find sponsors so we can put the events on and much of what’s on offer is down to a lot of people coming together and making small donations of as little as Ł5 to help make it all happen.”
Useful Info
Copies of the festival brochure are currently being distributed to shops, libraries and other venues around the city, or the full programme can be seen online at the festival website www.lincolninspired.co.uk
