Season of Festivals
The flags are out along the main streets, for this is the season of Festivals in New Mills: The Millers Parade, The One World Festival and the first events of The New Mills Community Festival. Those who know their dates may be a bit surprised at the inclusion of the last of these three. The Community Festival is always held in the second and third weeks of September. So it will be again this year; but the first events are about to take place with The Festival’s “Artists in schools” banner making project.

Artists in schools
During the month of June local artists Susan and Katy McCall have been booked to work with eight local primary schools and with the secondary school in New Mills on an exciting banner-making project. Thanks to a substantial grant from The Derbyshire Community Foundation, the two artists will be co-ordinating with schools to hold exciting hands-on design workshops, stimulating the children’s ideas that will then be turned into professionally produced banners during the summer. These banners will be flown alongside the New Mills flags in September when the Community Festival proper takes place. This is why the design workshops have been timetabled so early, in order for the banners to be printed in time.

The Fairtrade theme
New Mills is in the early stages of following the path leading to a whole-town commitment to Fairtrade. With United Co-operatives Ltd and The Co-op Group, both firm supporters of The Community Festival, already selling a range of Fairtrade products in their New Mills stores, Festival 2005 has decided to incorporate Fairtrade as a theme in several of its events. The banner-making in schools will be accompanied by an Assembly in each school on Fairtrade led by Jo Bird, a United Co-op sponsored Fairtrade educationalist. Children will sample Fairtrade products and handle them as part of the stimulus for their banner designs. Artist Sue McCall says that the workshops will be an exciting and imaginative experience for all the children. She and daughter Katy (both professional artists) are looking forward to working with all the local schools: “The children will be so thrilled when their designs are finally fluttering above the shops in the town centre.”

Fourteen days of fun
Community Festival 2005 runs from Saturday 10th to Saturday 24th September in venues around New Mills. Many events are promoted by groups and societies in the town. On Saturday 10th The Art Theatre will resound to the sounds of the King of Rock as “Elvis” returns – or for a more sedate evening, Culcheth Military Band will be in concert at St George’s Church amidst the displays still standing from the day’s Arts and Craft Exhibition. On Saturday 24th the crowds will gather for a Grand Lantern Procession through the illuminated Torrs, with New Mills School Jazz Band and a fireworks finale on the Newtown Recreation field.

In between these dates (and spilling a little bit over!) will be a whole host of activities – quiz evenings, treasure hunt, potatoes and poems, environmental walk, folk concert, comedy night, sports events, children’s cinema, fire-effects making, dirty disco dancing, an evening with a guest poet from the Hebrides, kitchen-table science for kids, gala festival concert night, cooking with herbs demonstration, Peak writer’s drama, celebratory “Nelson and Waterloo” presentation, book events, Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Songs of Praise and, of course, regular workshops for making lanterns to carry in the Grand Procession.

The full printed programme of Festival 2005 will be available towards the end of August. One thing is guaranteed – there will be something in it for everyone! Several local firms have already offered sponsorship to ensure the success of September’s events. Further sponsorship is always most welcome – for details phone 01663 746074 and ask for Phil.