Save the date for this year’s Hartlepool Waterfront Festival

Hartlepool Waterfront Festival, organised by Hartlepool Borough Council, will be on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th July from midday to 6pm and looks set to be bigger and better than ever before.

Now in its fifth year, this outdoor celebration of creativity draws thousands of local, regional and national visitors to Hartlepool.

It will take place on The Waterfront in the heart of Hartlepool Marina and will feature a jam-packed programme of open-air performances, immersive experiences, family-friendly activities and creative installations.

After scaling back the activity workshops element of the festival last year due to COVID, the workshops – which are enjoyed by thousands of children and young people – are making a welcome return.

The festival - which takes place almost exactly one year before the Tall Ships return to Hartlepool - will be themed ‘When The Boat Comes in’, exploring the ideas of arrivals, departures, welcomes and goodbyes.

The theme also reflects the fact that this will be the last Waterfront Festival on the Waterfront before the forthcoming construction of the multi-million pound leisure facility The Highlight on the site. 

Among the festival attractions confirmed so far is Gaia - a spectacular replica of planet Earth by internationally-renowned visual artist Luke Jerram, which will be coming to a yet-to-be-announced location within the town, giving visitors the chance to gaze upon the Earth as if from space.

Luke exhibited at last year’s Waterfront Festival, at a site in Seaton Park, and most recently in Durham Cathedral with Museum of the Moon.

Also on the bill will be performance group Folk Dance Remixed, with the most extravagant ceilidh you’ve ever witnessed!

The festival will also be welcoming Headland artist Stuart Langley’s three highly distinctive stained glass Reliant Robin artworks, which feature iconic images of Durham Cathedral and the Angel of the North and explore what ‘home’ has meant for the wider North East.

The artworks have been featured at Durham’s Lumiere festival and it’s a delight to bring all three back together at the Waterfront Festival.

Further ‘moments of artistic joy’ will also be popping up around town throughout the month of July, including Murmurations by Tangled Feet Theatre at North Gare.  Murmurations is a guided tour into nature which you’ll never forget. Through live scenes and songs, poetry and physical theatre, comedy and tragedy, Murmurations explores what we need from nature and what nature needs from us in a world healing from sickness.

Ian Gardiner, Hartlepool Borough Council’s Head of Service (Active and Creative Hartlepool), said: “We’re really excited about this year’s Waterfront Festival and are really looking forward to welcoming people in July.

“Our proximity to the sea has shaped who we are and we can’t wait to explore what it means to live here in Hartlepool through this year’s theme.

“We’re also looking forward to announcing where people will be able to come and see the amazing Gaia – we’ll be revealing the location closer to the time.”

This year’s Hartlepool Waterfront Festival will be unticketed and will once again be Pay What You Decide. Visitors will be able to make anonymous donations based on their experience of the event and the money will go towards commissioning additional children’s activities at next year’s festival.

For more information visit www.hartlepoolwaterfrontfestival.com