[C]umbria is set to be transformed during Lakes Alive which runs from 8-10 September.
Lakes Alive offers a weekend of spectacular happenings in and around Kendal and wider Lake District National Park.
The free festival of contemporary art will appeal to families and art lovers alike.
Lakes Alive showcases world class work in unexpected locations.
It launches with a Jacob’s Join at 6pm on the Friday. The unique Cumbrian dining experience takes place alongside the River Kent. Bring your own picnic or buy from one of our delicious street vendors.
Desperate Men will host the Jacob’s Join while folk band Mazurka and Worldbeaters Spark! provide musical entertainment.
During the weekend Kendal Castle will be all aglow with Shipping Forecast – a light installation by artist Pete Johnson. Darkness delivers the most impact of this stunning piece.
Also at the castle, artist Richard Shilling is creating a fantastic land-art piece. Large-scale and set high on a hill, it can be seen from afar.
Cumbrian sound artist Dan Fox brings Cymbria. This is a new work created with the voices and sounds of Cumbria and inspired by the River Kent.
Dance is a feature of this year’s programme with London-based Folk Dance Remixed, a collision of traditional and hip hop dance and music set to delight audiences throughout the weekend.
They will perform alongside northern companies AbouTime Dance and Hawk Dance Theatre who bring traditional and contemporary dance to the streets of Kendal.
Acclaimed environmental artist Steve Messam is bringing a stunning and audacious new commission to the festival.
The big international commission is called To Travel and To Matter, an adventurous walk and sound installation by Dutch composers Strijbos & Van Rijswijk with poet Jacob Polley.
This is located in Grasmere and Elterwater on walking trails and open fells. To Travel and To Matter uses Strijbos & Van Rijswijk’s digital app Walk With Me to move the listener at their own pace through a glorious landscape and to create a unique and dramatic experience on the route.
Lakes Alive brings together artists from home and abroad. This festival of making, exploring and seeing is set to transform spaces and transform audiences.
Amazing art and participation activities will take place across the town at The Brewery Arts Centre, Abbot Hall Park, Riverside Walk, Castle Howe, Shakespeare Centre, The Factory and Kendal Castle.
The Factory will be a hive of activity throughout the weekend with dozens of artists throwing open their studios.
A series of talks and films from the world’s spectacular landscapes will also take place at the Shakespeare Centre.
Phillippa Haynes, Lakes Alive Festival Director said: “We are two weeks away from Lakes Alive and are getting excited about the diverse programme of fantastic work by world class arts from home and abroad.
“We want the festival to be a playful and eclectic promenade through the cultural landscape of the newest UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
More details: www.lakesalive.co.uk
