Excitement builds ahead of Waterfront Festival

Following on from the success of the last year’s inaugural event which attracted 15,000 visitors, the festival will begin on Friday (July 20) at 5pm and continue through until 5pm on Sunday (July 22) at the Hartlepool Waterfront site within the town’s Marina.

Councillor Kevin Cranney, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Regeneration Services Committee, said: “This year’s theme is “Oh I Do Like To Be....” so pull up a deck chair and get ready for an arts festival the likes of which the town has never seen.

“As a Borough and a region, one of our best features is our proximity to the sea and we can’t wait to celebrate it through art.”

After bringing two “watery” classics to last year’s open-air cinema, the Council has this year decided to dedicate a full evening to films on Friday. The Friday Film Fest opens at 5pm with Finding Nemo followed by Boy and Bicycle and The Goonies.

Visitors are asked to arrive early to avoid disappointment and to bring their own seating.

The fun runs from 12-5pm on both Saturday and Sunday and there will be something to suit all tastes.

As part of the Greater Tees, Great Places project, the Stockton International Riverside Festival will be staging a warm-up procession with community groups working in Hartlepool. The groups have been working with professional artists to develop costumes, music and performance as part of a huge site-wide procession to be held at 1pm on Saturday which will officially open the Hartlepool Waterfront Festival.

Headlining the festival will be Lost Voice Guy, the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2018. Stand-up comedian Lee Ridley won the ITV show on a public vote and he will be performing on the Mainmast Stage from 3.45pm on Sunday.

The Mainmast Stage’s programme focuses on music and family activities and offers two days of the best acts in the North-East, including James Leonard Hewitson, Channy Thompson, North Road and Samantha Durnan.

The Jib Market is the festival’s pop-up party market that will play host to a range of street food sellers, performers and entertainers.

Councillor Cranney added: “Building on the phenomenal success of 2017’s Art Garden, some of the region’s best working artists will this year come together on our Arts Beach to deliver free drop-in workshops.

“Last year artists directly engaged with over 2,100 people and we are hoping to double that figure this time around.”

Hartlepool Marina and OnWater Training are putting on a packed mini-programme of water-based activities, while the Quarterdeck area of the festival site is to host a series of fun attractions, including the solar-powered Sol Cinema, Circo Rum Ba Ba’s 50ft inflatable sperm whale and Bash Street Theatre’s hilarious family show Bellevue Hotel.

For more information visit www.hartlepoolwaterfrontfestival.co.uk

A festival events programme has also been produced and this can be viewed below