Planning for the Eskdale Festival of the Arts 2016 is well underway and Chairman, Dave Bradley, is delighted with the support local people have offered.

The Whitby and District Rotary Club have offered three £50 prizes for competitors of primary school age in the solo vocal, instrumental and piano classes. Three further awards are presented to secondary age students by the Festival Committee for best performance, commitment to the Festival and the now well-established “Musician of the Year” Award. Over one thousand pounds has been raised through sponsorship from twelve local companies and organisations and a further eight businesses have provided raffle prizes. Musicport continues to support the Festival and a number of initiatives are  being considered in partnership with the Whitby Music Centre. Even more local people have offered to act as stewards at the Festival in March and Dave described the support by the local community as “overwhelming”.

This year, the Festival Committee have arranged for a professional storyteller, Fran O’Boyle, to run some workshops at Eskdale School on Tuesday March 1st. The morning sessions will cater for students in the 11-14 age range and students in Years 5 and 6 have been invited from local primary schools for the afternoon sessions. These workshops will herald the Festival’s “Spoken Word Competition” which begins on Wednesday and Thursday the 2nd and 3rd of March. Primary schools are advised to book early to avoid disappointment.

The Festival includes a Jazz Lunch on Sunday 6th March, a band competition on Saturday 12th March and the Boyes Gala Concert on the same evening where the six awards described above will be presented.