Welcome to the 19th Hebden Bridge Arts Festival!

This year’s festival is spilling out all over! We kick off with a day’s dancing in the street and the party continues throughout the town. New novelists ride in alongside best-sellers, ex-cons write about life inside with a side-bar of international poetry. Relax with a drink and listen to jazz, world and classical, folk, pop and ambient. We’ve got top-notch comedy, a day of female singer/songwriters and a breathtaking Matisse exhibition. There’s classic and contemporary theatre and some fantastic family fare inside and out.

A special strand of this year’s festival is a celebration of women in music. From plainchant to agitprop, folk to experimental, take a journey with some extraordinary singers, song-writers and performers. The featured events are marked with In a town overflowing with artists and performers, we are delighted to offer up a smorgasbord of entertainment for your delectation!

The festival could not happen without the financial support of Arts Council England, Yorkshire, Calderdale Council and Hebden Royd Town Council. We would also like to thank our principal supporter Welcome to Yorkshire and our sponsor Sweet & Maxwell. Thanks must also go to all those businesses that have offered support in kind. And last but not least, we’d would like to acknowledge the invaluable support of our volunteers. You are too numerous to name individually, but we couldn’t do this without you. A big thank you to you all!

Expect the unexpected and you won’t be disappointed.
Eat, drink and be merry!
Helen Meller
Festival Co-ordinator
On behalf of Hebden Bridge Arts Festival