Where: Ulverston Town Centre and Ford Park, Cumbria
£: Free
What is it?
Ulverston’s Another Fine Fest is back for a third year with its biggest celebration yet. The festival will have live window and graffiti art, music and DJs, circus performers, comedy, street theatre, magic, and a world record-breaking attempt.
The event was created to celebrate the birth of Stan Laurel and to celebrate the town. For the day, the beer gardens, streets, windows, walls, cobbles, and even lamp posts become awash with weird and wonderful activity.
This year, there will be two outdoor stages and eight official venues, as well as wandering acts, workshops and an attempt at the world’s biggest ever pie fight.
Ulverston will be taking on the World Record for a mass foam pie fight at this year’s event. In honour of Stan Laurel, the organisers need 1000 people to sign-up and splat. The fight will take place at 10am in Ford Park. The aim is to beat the current record held by Belfast with 869 pie-fighters. For those wishing to take part, there is a donation of £2 requested to cover insurance and two pies. Pies will also be on sale for 10p, for visitors wanting to get in a total lather.
Live music is a big part of the event with the Sun Inn, Amigos, the Kings Arms, the Hope and Anchor, The Piel, The Mill, the Rose and Crown, and the Farmers – along with two outdoor stages – bringing all kinds of music to the festival. Expect rock, indie, jazz, blues, house, techno, breakbeats, hip hop, disco, reggae, funk, folk, world, country, and psychedelic music.
New Market Street will become Buskers Alley, letting the streets be the stage. Imagine an open mic night, but in the day and on the street. Visitors are invited to bring their instrument, plug-in and play.
Another Fine Fest will be painting Ulverston several shades of every colour; with the assistance of street art specialists Primal Science, a secretive army of yarnbombers, and a team of window painters. Primal Science are a locally-based aerosol art collective. Its founding members grew up in the late 80’s, when the Furness peninsula was a hotbed of British graffiti writing. Another Fine Fest offers the artists a unique opportunity to create site specific works in Ulverston, and to increase understanding of this much maligned art-form.
More info: anotherfinefest.co.uk and facebook.com/anotherfinefest. To sign up for the world record-breaking pie fight visit piefight.eventbrite.co.uk (and why wouldn’t you).