Cumbria to host brand new festival 'Whitehaven Alive' in September

A brand new festival will take place in Cumbria later in the year.

The 'Whitehaven Alive' festival will take place in the town over three days in September.

It will be staged on Whitehaven Harbour during 9th-11th September, featuring household names, live entertainment, food and drink villages, Cumbrian producers, and street theatre.

Platinum selling pop-rock band Scouting For Girls has been announced as the first headliner.

Organisers say they will rally round local businesses in the town to get involved and be part of the weekend.

Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners' Chief Executive, John Baker said: "The overall vision is for Whitehaven Alive to be a landmark event to celebrate our locality post-COVID aiming to assist in the recovery for local businesses and residents and inviting those people and businesses to participate where possible, bring people together and express the sense of place and recovery for Whitehaven.

"Whitehaven Harbour and town have such deep and varied histories to tell, and our communities have such incredible passion and sense for this place. Whitehaven Alive aims to bring all of that together to enable us all to enjoy a wonderful celebration post pandemic."

Co-founder Oliver Hodgson said: "This event is truly exciting and one of great significance, that we aim will become an annual feature in the West Cumbrian calendar.

"We promise this will be a weekend not to be forgotten, a date we are sure people will put in their diaries to join us for a weekend of fun, excitement, and what will be a fantastic showcase of Cumbria.

"Scouting For Girls are perfect for Saturday evening, entertaining us all with the picturesque harbour as the backdrop, a fantastic sunset and the sounds of 'She's So Lovely' - what more could you want?"

Andrea Winders, co-founder, said: "Whitehaven is a gem of a town, and to be able to host this event on the harbour will be a chance to showcase its best points and celebrate with residents and visitors."

More acts and announcements are expected to be made in the coming weeks.