Posted on 28th Sep
Newark is set to be full of opportunities to try new things and develop new skills this weekend as part of nationwide Fun Palace celebrations. The event, taking place from Friday 1st to Sunday, 3rd October, will see local people, organisations and businesses offer free activities at venues throughout the town.
The weekend has been organised as part of an ongoing cultural programme called Newark Creates, developed as part of Newark High Street Heritage Action Zone and delivered by the Newark Cultural Consortium.
Carol Newman, director of Culture at Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries, the lead partner in the Consortium, said: “The idea of Fun Palaces is to celebrate and share the amazing skills within local communities. Just a glance at the programme that’s been put together for this event shows how lucky we are to have such an abundance of enormously talented people in Newark and hopefully this weekend will inspire many others to get creative and join in the exciting range of free and fun activities available.”
Managed by Inspire, Newark Library will be one of the main hubs of activity for the Fun Palace, offering a crafty corner with a Knit and Natter hosted by the National Civil War Centre’s Learning Team on Friday at 10am and the chance to make shadow puppets and show them off in a shadow theatre as well as make and take macramé activities on Friday and Saturday.
The National Civil War Centre, Newark Museum will be open with free entry across the three days. Visitors will be able to learn to order their food in another language in the café and play traditional games in the courtyard. Plus throughout the day on Friday there’ll be the chance to draw some interesting objects unearthed from Newark Museum’s Resource Centre and at 10.30am and 1.30pm the Centre’s storyteller extraordinaire Adam Nightingale will be sharing what it takes to become the ultimate raconteur.
There’ll be plenty for music lovers with group taster sessions from Riverside Music’s Adam Schofield on Saturday at the National Civil War Centre; the focus at 11am will be on guitars while at 12.15pm you can try your hand at the ukulele. Also on Saturday, at 11am, the Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene will be hosting a singing workshop for 7 to 12 year-olds.
Supported by members of the famous church choir, and led by church Director of Music Stephen Bullamore, participants will learn some exciting songs about animals. You can also drum along with musician Neil McCarthy as he shares stories and songs from around the world at Newark Library on Saturday from 1pm and at Newark Market Place on Sunday afternoon.
Budding artists can enjoy getting creative at a few different locations over the weekend too. There’ll be drawing and painting activities for the whole family every day at Newark Art on Kirkgate while Secret Garden Newark hosts free interactive taster sessions on Saturday from 10am to 2.30pm. There’ll be the chance to meet the artists and see their wonderful studios and garden as well as adding to a collective canvas painting, creating a textured tile that will be laid in the garden and writing your own twist to Tales from the Secret Garden.
Newark and Sherwood District Council leader, Coun David Lloyd, said: “It’s great to see Newark’s talented people and amazing creative businesses being celebrated and getting involved in this wonderful event. I hope that lots of our residents will take the chance to learn something new and that this will result in many more local creatives coming to light.”
There are even more opportunities to learn different skills as LetsXscape teach aspiring gamers to play chess and cribbage across the three days, expert Kiyth Footit helps you have a go at Ninjitsu at the National Civil War Centre on Sunday from 1.30pm to 3pm and photographer Andy Haughton shows you how to take amazing portrait photos on Sunday in the Buttermarket.
With more events happening across the Market Place and Newark Castle throughout the three days, Newark’s Fun Palace is set to make Newark a don’t miss destination this weekend. Find more information as well as the latest schedule at facebook.com/NewarkCreatesUK and discover more about Fun Palaces at funpalaces.co.uk.
