Tickets selling fast for festival
Some gigs for town’s celebration of art and music are already nearly sold out
TICKETS are selling fast for key events the 2022 Leek Arts Festival which has sprung back to life after being put on hold for the past two years because of Covid-19.
Organisers have put together a programme of more than 40 events featuring national, international and local artists – with nearly half of all activities on offer completely free of charge.
With just two weeks to go before the first main event – the Tri Nations Trio on May 4 – festival chairman Phil Edmeades urged people to secure their tickets early, with some gigs edging towards ‘Sold Out.’
Phil said: “Tickets are selling fast for Eddi Reader, Scott Doonican, Fairport Convention, Boothby Graffoe, Climax Blues Band and Gareth Lockrane – and we can’t guarantee that there will be any available for people who want to just turn up on the night of these gigs and pay on the door.
“If you want to be part of the great atmosphere at any of these events then you need to act now and snap up your tickets before they all disappear.”
Key events – all at Leek’s Foxlowe Arts Centre – include The Tri Nations Trio on May 4; former Fairground Attraction star Eddi Reader on May 13; Scott Doonican – frontman of the hilarious parodies band The Bar-steward Sons of Val Doonican – on May 20; Fairport Convention on May 25; local rockers Climax Blues Band on May 28; surrealist comedian Boothby Graffoe on June 3; and internationally renowned – and Leek born and bred – jazz flautist Gareth Lockrane who will be appearing with the Joe Tatton Trio on June 8.
Phil added: “It would be nice to think that after two years without a Leek Arts Festival we can come back with a bang and welcome decent audiences to our main events.
“We are conscious that some people are still wary of crowds because of Covid and for that reason we have taken the
decision not to exceed a maximum of 150 people in the stage room at The Foxlowe for any of our events.
“We think that’s a sensible number of people to work with and allows for reasonable social distancing.
“The limit on numbers does mean, however, that for many of these events tickets will be in short supply. So please, if you want to see and hear any of these great artists you need to act now.”
Tickets for all odf the main events are available from the Foxlowe or online at www. leekartsfestival.co.uk