Newark Creates receives funding from Newark Town Board’s Newark Heart project to funding town centre events

New funding means some of the town’s best free events in recent years will be able to keep on happening.

Newark Creates, the team behind projects such as the BookBench trail which launched this week, has announced that it is now being supported by Newark Town Board’s Newark Heart project.

Thanks to this new funding, Newark Creates has been able to plan some brand new events.

The first of these new events will see an aerial spectacle of dance, circus and theatre in Newark Market Place on Saturday, July 27.

There will be performances from Fish Boy, a humourous but poignant story by 2Faced Dance following a young boy as he uncovers what’s polluting our rivers and is a celebration friendship the power of never giving up.

This is part of a planned series of eco-friendly themed events which support Newark and Sherwood District Council’s Motion for the Ocean.

Further linked activities in the programme will include Word Art graffiti with Urban Canvas taking place this weekend during Newark Book Festival, and several events at the Newark-on-Sea beach, from August 7 to 19, including the return of the whale from The Plastic Ocean Show.

These will feature the chance to make a mini garden and a have a go at some wood crafts as well as more environmentally-inspired fun at a special Eco Day.

Newark Creates’ latest project is the Newark BookBench trail, which launched this week, in co-ordination with Wild in Art who are responsible for sculpture trails across the country including Clumber Park’s Shaun the Sheep installation and Lincoln’s imps.

The benches, designed by a variety of artists local to Newark and Sherwood and the East Midlands, are now on display in a variety of locations across the town and will remain in place until September 5.

A programme of Meet Me At The Benches activities will be running throughout where the artists and local storytellers will host interactive sessions at each bench.

There are also plans for a Festival of Creativity across the town taking place on the weekend of October 5 and 6, as well as Historical Escapades, which is an immersive family-friendly short film taking viewers through the history of Newark, projected on the front of Newark Town Hall on the evening of November 1.

Newark Creates is also collaborating with Newark Festival so expect to see some more fun activities there too.

Newark Creates is supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, alongside the new funding from Newark Heart, and is led by Newark’s Cultural Consortium.

Carol Newman, director of Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries, the lead partner in the consortium, said: “This new funding from Newark Heart, along with that from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, is going to enable us to let our imaginations go even wilder with what can be done for Newark.

“After transforming the Market Place with colourful umbrellas last year and putting on the hugely successful light show at St Mary Magdalene Church, we want to continue on an upwards trajectory, making Newark even more vibrant, and engaging local people with more fantastic arts activity.”

Now in its third year The Newark Heart Project aims to increase the town centre’s vibrancy and encourage more footfall.

Matthew Spoors, portfolio holder for sustainable economic development at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “We know that events make a big difference to the town, and we are committed to doing all we can to encourage people to visit our town centres across Newark and Sherwood.

“Our Small Business Showcase and Plastic Ocean Show back in April saw dwell time in the town centre rise by 30% compared to average Saturdays so we’re keen to do more.

“I really believe that Newark town centre is fantastic and the events that Newark Creates put on have already added so much. I’m very much looking forward to seeing them build on an already busy schedule of quality activities attracting more people to Newark.”

To find out more about and upcoming events, visit the Newark Creates website or visit them on Facebook.