New Mills Arts Festival open for submissions

The closing date for submissions, proposals and ideas is March 23.

The two-week event features art, music, comedy, performance, street entertainment, activities, workshops, walks and talks and takes place between May 17 and June 1.

Over the last couple of years New Mills has clearly established itself as a key player in the North West cultural calendar.

In September 2012, more than 2,000 people followed New Mills Arts Trail featuring the work of 50 artists in unusual spaces and places, pubs and clubs, churches and halls, the barbers, the bookshop, the florists and even the funeral parlour.

In May 2013, when the festival took part in the Derbyshire Open Arts weekend for the first time, more than 3,000 people visited six venues across the town.

The event at Torr Vale Mill, a former cotton mill in the centre of New Mills, displayed the work of 22 artists from across the UK, it attracted more than 1,000 visitors.

For 2014, New Mills Arts is expanding again and is planning a festival showcasing the work of contemporary artists and creative practitioners from across the country.

The festival, building on the success of previous events, will run for a week either side of the Derbyshire Open Arts weekend, at the town hall, on Spring Bank Road, and also incorporate the town trail with as many pop-up venues as it can muster alongside a range of events in more established venues across the town.

Visit newmillsarts.blogspot.co.uk to apply or email [email protected] for more information.