Some years ago, Macclesfield was labelled the least cultured place in Britain. To counter this, residents launched a major arts event for the town. The Barnaby Festival – named after a fair first celebrated there in the Middle Ages – celebrates contemporary art and culture. It begins next Friday and runs for 10 days at venues throughout the town. Headliners include the cockney funny man Arthur Smith (pictured, Fri 22 Jun, tickets), who will be hosting an evening with jokes, anecdotes, short stories, and poems from his recently published memoir. In a possibly more serious vein, the writer Will Self will be in conversation, discussing his new novel, Phone, with Dr Honor Gavin from the Centre of New Writing at Manchester University (Tue 19 Jun, tickets). On the music front, jazz funk legends The James Taylor Quartet are performing on Friday 15 June (tickets). Visual art fans will enjoy a visual art trail which includes Zarah Hussain’s ‘Invisible Threads’, an installation of digital geometry, across 25 venues. The packed programme of family-friendly events also includes street theatre, storytelling, walks and more. Examples include a free parkour show (Fri 15 Jun, more info) and silhouette art workshops (Sat 16 Jun, 10am-4pm, more info)

Fri 15 – Sun 24 Jun, Throughout Macclesfield town centre, show times and prices vary, barnabyfestival.org.uk

Fri 15 Jun - Sun 24 Jun
Words:
A. James Simpkin
Published on:
Wed 20 Jun 2018