Festival team to brighten up town
PLANS are being put in place for Barnaby Bright - a smaller version of Macclesfield’s Barnaby Festival.
The series of events will take place at locations in the town centre around the time of the summer solstice, culminating with a Barnaby Bright Treacle Market on Sunday June 27.
The programme will feature contemporary art, live performances, walking tours, a music showcase, a show reel parade, cartoon workshops and a drag cabaret evening.
A special edition beer will also be created for the event.
Doctor Abi Gilmore, co-chair of Barnaby Festival, said: “We are over the moon to be able to bring a small programme of events to Macclesfield this summer.
“Barnaby Bright is a celebration around the summer solstice where we can look at taking steps to join together to support our venues and community and to enjoy the creativity in Macclesfield.
“Although the programme is not the fullfat Barnaby Festival we are so happy to be able to animate the town centre again in a safe and friendly way.”
Among the planned highlights is a series of gigs and music classes that will be hosted both online and at Mash Guru on Back Wall Gate.
There will also be cartoon workshops from the organisers of Macc Pow and a virtual parade that will be screened at St Michael’s Church, on the
Market Place. The drag cabaret show is inspired by William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and there will be a dressing room area upstairs at Mash Guru for guests to dress up and get advice from experts.
And artist Simon Buckley will display multimedia work Our Future is Ancient.
It has three parts - a performance of words and live music, an exhibition of film and images and also a walking tour of the ginnels of Macclesfield.
There will also be a colourful art installation at Christ Church, on Roe Street by Liz West.
Barnaby Bright takes its name from an old folk rhyme, which refers to the longest day in June. For more information visit https://barnabyfestival.org.uk.