Lavender and crinolines,
playground games and garden swings.
Row row row your boat
to timeless French cafés.
That’s what music means to me.

Sitars, organs, stylophones
and Mrs Heap’s piano.
The Warbling of God Save the Queen
in a faltering falsetto.
And that’s what music means to me.

Grandma sipping from a china cup,
the ticking of the grandfather clock.
The Clangers and the Playschool theme
and a magical cloth cat.
That’s what music means to me.

Mobile phones or a mountain pass
Les Dawson or an ambulance.
Opening of a birthday card
to a pinball melody.
That’s what music means to me

And there’s Royd’s Ice cream van
singing its heart out in street.
Right Now…
That’s the music that means most to me.

Forty attendees at Sunday’s launch at the Town Hall took part in a poetry experiment conducted by our Pop Up Poet Winston Plowes. They were asked to listen to a tune played on his electronic musical tie and respond with whatever words or memories came to mind. These words were then arranged in Winston’s poem Royd’s. He would like to thank everyone who took part so enthusiastically.

List of contributors – Sally Martin, Jerry Smith, Rose MacDonald, Len Horsey, San Murray, Neil Farmer, John Clarke, Moira Quinn, Maggie Holborow, Alicia Sargent, Anna Turner, Ruby Hudson, Grace Hudson, Winston Plowes, Dulcie Moonlight Lloyd, Lex Campbell, Sarah Campbell, Taylor Campbell, Sally Greenwood & Delilah, Lou Crosby, Lesley Lishman, Kate Rhodes, Kate Kershaw, Angus Barclay, David Burnop, Penny Hampson, Maria Hall, Perri Webster, Kaysha Dolton, Ian Alderson, Frances Earnshaw, Mala Yorke, Emily Yorke, Rebecca Yorke, Suzi Garlick, Evie Manning, Marc Collett, Bardy McNair, Lucy Ordway, Caroline Kindy.

Are you a young person aged between 14-23 and would like to be involved in this year’s arts festival as a producer or a performer? Maybe your bag is blogging, social media, publicity, design. Whatever your interest or expertise then HBAF 2013 would like to hear from you by 30 May. Contact helen@hbaf.co.uk

We need you to help us festoon the town with bunting made from customised underwear! Drop your donations at the Town Hall and drop in to our next workshop – Saturday 25 May 10-1 also at the Town Hall.

Festival exhibition, Town Hall, 22-30 June (Mon-Sun 10am-5pm), Free

Shining a light in dark places, artists Blaffert/Wamhof photograph ex-British army bases in Germany whilst David Gledhill paints a family to life from a found photograph album. Curated by Len Horsey.

11am-5pm

Art, Fashion, Dance, Drama, Music in a Youth Culture fest in Calder Holmes park.

12 pm Parade – 1pm Finale in the Park

Handmade Parade website

Organic House, 22 June to early September, Free, 22 June 7pm discussion and reading.

Artwork by Zoe Benbow with poems by Sylvia Plath, Alice Oswald, Sarah Corbett and Jo Shapcott.
In conjunction with the Poetry Society.

Nutclough House Hotel Cellars, 22,23,25 & 27 June 10am-5pm,  Free

This mixed media show is a response to the 2012 floods. Artists include: brook & black, Keiko Kanda, Wanda Bernadino and Andrew Beck. Sound installations from Hibernate Records and Frame Missing and live soundtrack for flooded piano.

22 and 23 June, Animation workshop, Town Hall 2pm-5pm (7+) (20 places) £3

Delivered by artists Vincent James & Sam McLoughlin, this zoetrope workshop explores the roots of animation with a practical hands-on session.

About Uncanny Valley.

in conversation – Upstairs @ The Birchcliffe Centre, Doors 7.30pm, £10

Tracey Thorn has been described as ‘the Alan Bennett of pop Memoirists’. Bedsit Disco Queen chronicles Thorn’s rise from indie singer to international superstar in Everything but the Girl.

with support Baltic Fleet, Trades Club, Doors 9pm, £10

SOLD OUT ONLINE (Try our pop up Box Office Sat 25th May at The Town Hall)

The band of the moment fuse public information films, archive footage and propaganda material with motorik soundscapes & stunning visuals. Dress WW2.

Broadcasting to the public

J. Wildgoose and Wrigglesworth’s innovative live shows sample vintage public information films spliced  with archive footage propaganda films and banjos which they claim ‘teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future.’

They made their name with the Radio 6 favourite ‘The War Room EP’, which featured  A Waltz For George with Willgoose playing a banjolele which was owned by his Uncle, George Willgoose, who died aged only 26 as British forces were evacuated from Dunkirk.

“One of the main aims of The Arts Festival is to showcase new talent and Public Service Broadcasting are certainly that as they area band earning rave reviews whatever they do and wherever they go,” says Festival Producer Mal Campbell. ”The War Room is a brilliant record so we want everyone to dig out  some vintage clobber and join in the World War 2 dress code on the night that will fit in with their amazing projections .”

Their debut album ‘Inform – Educate – Entertain’ has just been released with great reviews including this 4* one from The Guardian. They’ll be playing the Trades Club on the festival’s opening night Saturday 23 June.

Just as fascinating was their download single Everest that uses words from the Oscar nominated documentary ‘The Conquest of Everest’ that described Sir Edmund Hilary and Shepra Tenzing ‘carving steps into the roof of the world’.

But on stage is where they do their best work using their exclusive digs into the archives of the British Film Institute to produce work that is trailblazing and hugely entertaining.

COME RAIN OR SHINE, St George’s Square, wavy duck steps, marina, Town Hall courtyard and Market Street, 12 – 4pm, Free

A feast of entertainment from some of the UK’s best street acts topped off with a dollop of local talent too. Uncle Tacko’s Flea Circus, Maynard Flip Flap, the Spurting Man and the return of the Grannies! Harpists, violinists, choirs, hot flamenco and lots more.

Town Hall Foyer, 12-4pm, 23 and 30 June, Pay what you like

In association with Cornerhouse, sit for an instant portrait inside the artist’s booth!

Town Hall Foyer, 10am-3pm, Free

Come and sit in the Map Chair and share your stories of Hebden Bridge.

22 and 23 June, Animation workshop, Town Hall 2pm-5pm (7+) (20 places) £3

Delivered by artists Vincent James & Sam McLoughlin, this zoetrope workshop explores the roots of animation with a practical hands-on session.

About Uncanny Valley.

Hebden Bridge Town Hall, 14.30, Free

Wordstones is a new trail along the Calder Valley, bearing words from young writers, carved by stone artist Pip Hall. This special event will feature a short reading from In Memory of Water by Simon Armitage and some of Calderdale’s finest young writers.
Wordstones is an imove project and has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, creating a lasting impact from London 2012 by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK.

Islington Mill’s Maurice Carlin and Bill Campbell open the doors of Crow Nest House for a series of informal but edgy events and exhibitions including work by Rachel Goodyear, Susie McMurray and artist in residence Lorna Mollart.
12pm. A drop in discussion with Bill, Maurice and exhibiting artists over tea and cake. 2pm Rachel Newsome’s dark tales in the woods.

Trades Club, 2pm & 5pm £7 (£5)

Great Scott! Victorian magicians Morgan and West present a magical extravaganza: dazzling deceptions, and a genuine ability to travel through time.
‘I can’t recall the last time my awe was so thoroughly struck!’ The Scotsman

Tickets for 2pm performance

Tickets for 5pm performance

Workshop, Hebden Bridge Library, 4pm-5.30pm (12+), (20 places) Free

Create new work in an interactive poetry workshop with one of Britain’s most exciting young poets.

Town Hall, 6pm £5

Rochdale, Salford, Bradford, Birmingham: four emotive monologues about ordinary people living hidden lives. Written and performed by poet and scriptwriter Anjum Malik.