New Mills Festival releases details of 2021 event with call for artist submissions and community support

New Mills Festival has released the first details of this year’s event with organisers looking to create a home from home for the return of live audiences.
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The festival will take place between September 10-26 and organisers have put out an open call for artists, poets, musicians and event planners to come forward with proposals on taking part.

Festival director Toby Hardwick said: “We’re relieved and excited by the prospect of the 2021 New Mills Festival taking an actual physical shape. Last year everyone really rose to the occasion of the virtual festival alongside the amazing window displays right across town.

“This year we are embracing a mix of the best of all worlds, making this one of the most inclusive festivals to date.”

The Light Up New Mills community project was a bright spot for many amid the gloom of 2020.The Light Up New Mills community project was a bright spot for many amid the gloom of 2020.
The Light Up New Mills community project was a bright spot for many amid the gloom of 2020.

The theme of the 2021 festival is ‘home’, to coincide with the first harvest of the Home Farm project which the town started in autumn 2020 to encourage residents, businesses, schools and other organisations to grow their own food.

Other festival staples will include the much loved art trail, when the shop windows of Market Street, Union Road and High Street transforms into a free exhibition of work by a variety of artists, many of them local.

Last September saw the festival team stage a dazzling Light Up New Mills event, giving a glimpse of people’s experiences, hopes, humour to entertain and raise the spirits of the community. The streets who pulled together those themed displays are already working on a follow-up.

Organisers have reissued the invitation for people to join the Friends of New Mills Festival fundraising membership scheme with benefits including concessionary rates for festival tickets and priority booking for performances.

Folk band the Gally Canters will be sure of a rousing reception this September.Folk band the Gally Canters will be sure of a rousing reception this September.
Folk band the Gally Canters will be sure of a rousing reception this September.

Full entry details of the scheme, the festival programme, and artist submissions can be found at www.newmillsfestival.co.uk. The website will soon be updated with information on more events and printable art trail maps.

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