Yorkshire Festival programme announced
A programme of events to mark this year's Tour de France has been released.
The Yorkshire Festival is the first cultural event to mark the lead up to the Grand Départ, which takes place in July.
The Festival itself will run from 27 March - 6 July 2014, the start day being the 100 day milestone until the Tour arrives in Yorkshire. Out of almost 400 bids, 47 projects were commissioned to be officially part of the festival - which will also include hundreds of fringe events. Highlights include:
Los Angeles-based sculptor Thomas Houseago, from Leeds, has been tasked to create two giant sculptures for Leeds city centre and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. These will be his first commissions for his home county and the first ever commissions to be made by the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.
Phoenix Dance Theatre, in Leeds, will join forces with Scottish public arts charity NVA to create the world’s first Ghost Peloton, led by Phoenix artistic director Sharon Watson and NVA creative director Angus Farquhar. Ghost Peloton incorporates a riding team of 50 road racers, stunt cyclists and large-scale projection of dancers all utilising unique remote controlled light suits to produce a stunning live choreography. Ghost Peloton builds on the worldwide success of Speed of Light, which was first commissioned for the London 2012 Olympics. An appeal has now gone out to Yorkshire cyclists to get involved in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
West Yorkshire Playhouse will host “Beryl” written by TV star Maxine Peake to celebrate the extraordinary sporting achievements of Morley cyclist Beryl Burton. Beryl is a specially commissioned adaptation from Ms Peake’s acclaimed 2012 Radio 4 play and marks her stage writing debut.
Award-winning director Daisy Asquith teams up with cult musician Bill Nelson to create a new film as part of a series of screenings to be shown on 10 outdoor screens in stunning locations across Yorkshire. Tour de Cinema presents fiction and documentary films (including Alan Bennett’s rarely seen film ‘A Day Out’, about a Halifax cycling club; and Jarvis Cocker’s blazing soundtrack for The Big Melt) also in 35 local town halls and city centre big screens.
Young farmers and artists will create eight stunning major land art pieces across South Pennines landscape for Fields of Vision, co-ordinated by Pennine Prospects. This will capture the spirit and impact of the tour on the landscape of Yorkshire.
West Yorkshire Playhouse will host “Beryl” written by TV star Maxine Peake to celebrate the extraordinary sporting achievements of Morley cyclist Beryl Burton. Beryl is a specially commissioned adaptation from Ms Peake’s acclaimed 2012 Radio 4 play and marks her stage writing debut
Award-winning director Daisy Asquith teams up with cult musician Bill Nelson to create a new film as part of a series of screenings to be shown on 10 outdoor screens in stunning locations across Yorkshire. Tour de Cinema presents fiction and documentary films (including Alan Bennett’s rarely seen film ‘A Day Out’, about a Halifax cycling club; and Jarvis Cocker’s blazing soundtrack for The Big Melt) also in 35 local town halls and city centre big screens.
Young farmers and artists will create eight stunning major land art pieces across South Pennines landscape for Fields of Vision, co-ordinated by Pennine Prospects. This will capture the spirit and impact of the tour on the landscape of Yorkshire.
Click here for the full festival details.