Orbit Developments are pleased to be one of the mainsponsors for Barnaby Festival again this year, thousandsturned out in sunshine and showers to enjoy it.
Macclesfield was transformed over two weeks this June by music,comedy, original poetry and drama, street theatre, workshops andvisual art as thousands of visitors flocked into the town centre toenjoy this year’s Barnaby Festival.
At the start of the Big Weekend (21-23 June), hundreds ofcostumed Maxonians joined in the Carnival Parade, with communitygroups, schools and local businesses carrying giant puppets andpushing spectacular floats to represent four different stages ofmetamorphosis. The celebration started and finished in thetown’s Market Place, with a musical finale led by a masked sambaband.
Live music played in the town centre throughout the day onSaturday and Christ Church lawns fizzed with the Metamorph-Festfete, including family-friendly science demonstrations, a handmadeclay oven, Food4Macc gardening tips and a bicycle smoothie-makingmachine! In the late afternoon, family and friends came together toenjoy local food and drink at the Feast in Market Place.
On Sunday, a climbing wall almost as big as the Town Hall keptchildren busy and Street Fest entertainers, including anescapologist, a juggler, stilt walkers and hilarious walkabouts,kept the crowds entertained. Dance workshops and parkourdemonstrations by the Nantwich Street runners added to the fun.
Nine of the festival’s ticketed events sold out, including allthree cello concerts by Li Lu, a new narrative verse drama aboutMacclesfield called ‘Town’, the Barnaby Tea Dance held in theAssembly Rooms, both performances of new play, ‘Dead End’, talksabout historic Charles Roe House and the Pub Walks aroundMacclesfield town centre.
All three special performances at Christ Church- dormant for 30years, brought back to life as an arts and performance space forBarnaby – were huge successes, with ‘Peter Hook & The Light’and ‘Mark Steel’s in Town’ both selling out, and the NorthernChamber Orchestra performance a tour-de-force with its charmingrepertoire played to great effect in the lovely acoustic of this18th century venue.
The Art Trail, with over 40 exhibitions including 4 ‘pop-up’galleries, drew visitors from within the town and much furtherafield. There were almost 3,000 visits to Charles Roe House -closed for the last 4 years – that included new site-specific workby leading contemporary artist, Rachel Goodyear.
Barnaby Chair, Lynne Jones commented: “Macclesfield experienceda true metamorphosis this Barnaby! We transformed Christ Church,liberated Charles Roe House, filled Market Place with smilingfaces, created a buzz and lifted the Maxonian spirit. It’s been anamazing Barnaby and everyone involved – volunteers, artists,musicians, supporters and sponsors- should be enormously proud.Barnaby 2013 has shown what can be achieved when a community comestogether, taps into its own talent and aims high!”
Source: Barnaby
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