Grant success lets new festival encourage greater artistic skills in the Dales

The Dales Festival of Art – which will take place in Leyburn – is set to run alongside the popular Festival of Art and Drink which brings large numbers of visitors to the Dales every May.

The festival will include an interactive arts trail set up in Leyburn through links with local businesses and free hands-on workshops to let people to try new skills.

In the run-up to next year’s inaugural event, four artist-led workshops will target key groups to encourage local people to be artistic.

“This is very exciting news for the Dales – the festival will build on the hugely popular Food and Drink Festival and aims to increase involvement of all communities in Richmondshire in the arts,” said Councillor Russell Lord.

“We will be showcasing amateur and professional work side by side and celebrating the rich and diverse artistic culture we have in the district.”

The festival, which will run from May 4-6, organised by Richmondshire District Council and the Pop Up Art Gallery in Leyburn has received a £9,999 grant from the Arts Council.

Meanwhile, other grants totalling more than £30,000 have gone to community projects in the Yorkshire Dales.

They are the latest round of awards from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund (SDF), managed by the Clapham-based charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) on behalf of the authority. The cash has gone to six projects.

The biggest grant – more than £13,000 – goes to a project to provide visitor accommodation in a traditional field barn at the Hazel Brow Farm Visitor Centre in Low Row in Swaledale.

YDMT SDF project officer Gillian Muir said: “It is likely that there will be another decision-making round before March, but we expect that this will primarily deal with deferred projects rather than fresh applications.”

More details have been posted on the National Park Authority’s website at www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/applyingtothesdf