Street entertainment at Winter Droving
When: 26th & 27th October 2018
Where: Ullswater and Penrith, Cumbria
£: Free
What is it?
Cumbria’s Winter Droving will take place on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th October. The Winter Droving is an annual cultural event celebrating the changing of the seasons, with music, masked fire processions and quirky competitions.
With a quintessentially British eccentricity at its heart – that harks back to the days of a wild land and perhaps wild people – the Winter Droving event is programmed to take place on the old festival of Samhain, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the ‘darker half’ of the year.
This year’s event will start at Ullswater on the Friday evening and continue in Penrith on the Saturday. It will once again feature the Drovers Cup, street entertainment, live music, a fire torch procession and a fancy dress dog competition.
Winter Droving procession (Photo: Graham Wynne)
Friday’s entertainment will see the New Orleans-inspired party band, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, arrive by Ullswater Steamer at Pooley Bridge. A fire torch procession will then make its way through the area. The procession will end with a bonfire and live music from the Melodrome stage.
On the Saturday, Penrith town centre will come alive with street performers, live music across five stages, a vintage funfair, a local food and craft market, The Drovers Cup, a dog’s fancy dress competition, and a fire and light procession.
Visitors are encouraged to don their masks and dress up in the theme of animals, drovers, fire and winter. Fancy dress is not just for the humans either, a Fancy Dress Dogs Competition will be kicking off Saturday’s entertainment at 12pm. Dress your dog up as a sheep, masked superhero or horned creature for the competition.
Following this will be one of the quirky highlights of the event, with the return of The Angel Lane Chippie Drovers Cup. Local teams will compete across traditional events, including Hay Bale Racing, the Pint Pass, Egg Throwing, Tug-o-War and Cumberland Sausage Eating.
Winter Droving – Photo Graham Wynne
During the day there will also be a market and crafty vintage fair. Then, as darkness falls, the fire and lantern procession will fill the night air with mayhem and fun, with locals and visitors alike lining the streets throughout the town.
This year’s big finale will come from the Electric Swing Circus, a six-piece 1920s swing and stomping fusion band. Other live music and performances will come from Deatbeats, Wearequazars, Gaita Band, Blue Jam, Nula Hula, Poiromaniac, Peddlars Pack and Eliza Gutteridge.
More info: www.winterdroving.uk