The Tour de France Grand Départ is, for the first time in its history, being celebrated with a 100 day Cultural Festival running from 27 March to 6 July.
Yorkshire Festival 2014 will consist of specially commissioned and independently produced activity embracing all art forms. The focus of the Festival will be across the region and today Yorkshire Water has been announced as the festival support.
Calderdale Council has been working alongside Welcome to Yorkshire and Arts Council England to support the development of this unprecedented cultural opportunity and to help co-ordinate local authority support. Calderdale Council’s Leader, Cllr Tim Swift, said:
“Yorkshire Festival 2014 will be a spectacular experience with a packed programme celebrating the strength of the arts across the region. We are proud to have been involved in its organisation and look forward to its success.
“The Tour de France Grand Depart is not just a one off weekend, but something that’s going to have a massive impact throughout 2014 and beyond. The Cultural Festival is just one of the many opportunities for the people of Calderdale to become involved in it. There will be an exciting range of events taking place across Calderdale throughout the Festival with the full programme announced later this month.”
Gary Verity, the Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said there had recently been a huge response to a rallying call from the region’s arts community to create a memorable arts festival to celebrate the Grand Départ.
“We are in the final throes of agreeing the official festival programme which I can tell you features some absolutely fantastic events. The 100-day festival will be a really exciting way to welcome the world to Yorkshire.”
Local communities are encouraged to be part of the Festival. Online submissions for inclusion in the ‘Sportive Programme’ is open to interested parties. To register local activity visit: http://letour.yorkshire.com/cultural-festival(external link).
Further information about Yorkshire Festival 2014 will be available on the Festival website which will go live with information about the programme on the 29 January. We will be providing further updates on activity in Calderdale throughout the cultural build up to the Grand Depart.