Yorkshire Festival 2014

A FIRST FOR LEEDS, AS YORKSHIRE FESTIVAL 2014 BURSTS INTO LIFE

On July 5^th the 101st Tour de France, the world’s biggest annual sporting event, will visit the North of England for the very first time! Beginning its 1st of 21 stages in Yorkshire right here in Leeds, the Yorkshire Festival 2014 is the first ever arts festival to precede the event, running until the 6^th July.

Since the official countdown began back in March, the Festival has already seen Jonathan Watkins’ unique dance production of Barry Hines’ Kes at the Crucible and Tour de Cinema’s world premiere of Velorama by Daisy Asquith at Bradford Cathedral. This started the 100 free screenings across the county in indoor and spectacular outdoor locations as part of Sheffield Doc/Fest.

The Festival’s 100 days is still set to see the world’s first Ghost Peloton and sculptures made and flown in from Los Angeles. These are just some of nearly 50 spectacular commissions making up the first ever festival to precede the Tour de France in its 101 year history.

Yorkshire Festival 2014 is the brainchild of Welcome to Yorkshire, backed by Yorkshire Water, Arts Council England and Yorkshire local authorities. Out of almost 400 bids, 47 projects have been officially commissioned to be part of the 100-day festival – which also includes hundreds of fringe events.

Yorkshire is invited to get involved in a variety of creative workshops across the county, whether it’s learning how to mine, smelt, design and forge a bike in the Sheffield Steel Peloton, liberating your imagination through the spoken word in True Grit Digital Poetry, crocheting for the Woolly Bike Trail or exercising vocal chords in Cheer-Sing. Give your bike a makeover for the Handmade Parade; donate your earliest bike memories to Bike Story or join a band and sing the Festival Song as part of the Tour of Infinite Possibility. Schools can also get in on the action by downloading free resources devised by CapeUK.

Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, encourages everyone to “get into the spirit and be part of this incredible time for Yorkshire!”

Visit the events pages for more information on Yorkshire Festival or visit www.yorkshirefestival.co.uk for more information. You can also follow the Festival @YFest2014

The Grand Départ sees the athletes cycle from Leeds to Harrogate from 5^th-6^th July. Follow the route at letour.yorkshire.com