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Whoop whoop! Alton Arts Festival kicks off with a bang

  • Jul 7
  • 3 min read


Alton Arts Festival opened this weekend with miles of homemade bunting crafted by local residents decorating the town – and with peals of laughter in the Assembly Rooms at Lucy Porter’s sold out gig on Friday night. 


The laughter, joy and celebration of the arts could be heard throughout the town over the 15 events and workshops that took place across eight Alton, Chawton and Holybourne venues over the weekend. 


“Our town is buzzing with creative energy,” said festival chair Annie Lancaster. “We are thrilled with Alton’s response to the festival so far – and this is just the beginning!  A huge thank you to all of our artists and volunteers for making this happen!” 

Super Saturday

Highlights from the weekend include Saturday’s Makers Market, which saw indie artists and craftspeople setting up stalls on the High Street, with live demos in clay, pastels and sketching, as well as family-friendly crafts. Local gallery Freedom Through Expression also opened a showcase exhibit, which will run throughout the festival, featuring a selection of artwork from 34 workshops held across 18 local primary and secondary schools as part of the Alton Arts Festival Schools Programme.


Families flocked to the Public Gardens to enjoy the sunshine and Pumpkin Pantos’ performance of Alice in Wonderland, while drama enthusiasts enjoyed workshops with Frantic Assembly in Wessex Arts, kindly sponsored by Alton Fringe Theatre.


Morris dancers from 14 sides could be seen and heard throughout the town, performing in Market Square and on the High Street for most of the day. In the evening, Alton Morris joined the sold-out ceilidh in the Alton Assembly Rooms for a truly joyous occasion.


In the Community Centre, Holly Searle (aka The Subversive Stitcher) ran a workshop for sewing and crafting enthusiasts with something to say, the results of which are now on show in the Community Centre café. Holly's own Subverted Tea Towels, briefly lost in the post on their way to the festival, are also on display (safe and sound) in the Main Hall and Reception area until 16 July. 


The glorious harmonies of folk-duo Memorial filled the air at Goldfinch Books on Saturday night, who afterwards took to Instagram to say: “Saturday was quite possibly one of the nicest shows we’ve ever played…It was such a heartwarming, musically rejuvenating experience and we’re so thankful to have shared it with you.”



Serenity on Sunday

Sunday was no less busy, but a little quieter, with workshops including tutored life drawing at the Alton Community Centre and meditative Mindful Marbling with artist Ebru Kocak at Jane Austen’s House. 


Local award-winning author Louise Morrish interviewed author, writing blogger and tutor and one of her heroes, Emma Darwin. Both shared stories of their challenges and experiences in writing fiction about real people, providing tips to the writers in the audience. And later in the day, award winning author and illustrator Tim Tilley encouraged adults to unleash their inner children in his picture book writing workshop. 



Robin Ince ended the weekend on a high, moving his audience from stitches to tears and back again with his magical blend of poetry and comedy on Sunday night, accompanied by cheers from the audience and improvised music from none other than local bookseller and pianist extraordinaire, Evan Clark.


“I envy you your wonderful community”

From audiences to artists, everyone has been full of praise for Alton and the warm, welcoming people who live here. 


A supplier at the ceilidh said after the event, “Everyone was so friendly. I envy you your wonderful community”, while festival-goers have also been sharing positive comments, including:


“I’ve never lived anywhere with so much going on!”


“The festival is amazing, what a wonderful opportunity to try new things.”


The festival continues through this week, and there are still some tickets left:


See what's happening for the rest of the week here: www.altonartsfestival.com/whats-on 


 
 
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