Well, well... vaccine means welcome relief – and festival days ahead
FOR the first time in nine months, we can look ahead to a time where our lives are not dominated by the ghastly Covid-19 virus. The wonderful news about vaccines should not make us complacent – we should all do our best to prevent even greater pressures on the NHS during this difficult winter.
However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we can start to dream of better days when we can enjoy ourselves again in our beloved Derbyshire.
I am especially keen to see a rebirth of the arts and live performance after the scourge of the pandemic.
Therefore, it is apt timing for me to report on the excellent progress being made on the exciting 52 Weeks Festival, which will bring together the county and city of Derby for a year of celebration from May 2022.
The programme will be a welcome relief for those desperate to enjoy outdoor activities after the constraints of this year and much of next.
It will encompass existing activities as well as adding new events to Derbyshire’s cultural calendar from Glossop to Swadlincote, Ashbourne to Chesterfield and every community in between.
Everyone will be welcome to participate.
The festival idea was born after I had witnessed the success of the City of Culture programmes across the UK.
I believe wholeheartedly that Derbyshire has more going for it than anywhere – but felt we needed to shout about ourselves.
After several preliminary meetings, we have a core committee made up of experienced and passionate festival organisers. I am delighted that I have been named the event’s patron. During lockdown, the team has been working incredibly hard in communicating with key organisations such as local authorities, arts organisations, artists and the musicians’ union.
Already, there is a groundswell of enthusiasm to make a programme for 52 Weeks Festival which would metaphorically and literally light up our great county.
The committee is liaising at potential funding streams and then shaping a calendar of events which will stimulate all age groups.
It is intended that the festival will involve as many artists and organisations as possible and the whole county - so the team is currently identifying any geographical gaps in their contact base and looking for ambassadors across the nine boroughs.
Scheduled to begin in May 2022, the festival will run alongside the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the four-day Bank Holiday the following month.
The team have some fantastic ideas but the concept will not come to fruition without the support of the general public.
We are looking to support grassroots artists as well as include a sprinkling of headline events.
Ideally, it will reflect our unique culture which is why we believe that it would be appropriate to begin in our fabulous well-dressing season.
We need your ideas, so please engage with the 52 Weeks Festival pages on Facebook and Instagram and with its newly designed website which can be found at www.52weeksfestival.co.uk
Of course, the biggest festival which is everyone’s mind at the moment is Christmas.
Inevitably, this will be like no Yuletide in living memory.
Some gatherings may not be possible because of the regulations surrounding Covid.
Sadly, some will not go ahead because family members have been lost to this terrible virus.
This Christmas, I will be praying for those who have died and those who won’t be able to be with their nearest and dearest.
Whichever way you are spending it, I wish you a peaceful season and anticipate a time when we can all properly look forward to the future, at last.