News Maidstone’s Light Up Festival

Come along to a fantastic Light Up Festival in Maidstone Town Centre on Friday 3 February from 4.30pm to 7.15pm when stilt walkers, light up snowglobes and dancers will entertain crowds in the lead up to a stunning parade of lanterns.

Hundreds of school children from nine local schools will carry their homemade lanterns from County Hall through Week Street to Jubilee Square while crowds are entertained by a host of street performers, interactive light installations and live entertainment in the heart of the town centre.

Maidstone’s stunning Light Up Festival is being brought to the town by Cohesion Plus and OneMaidstone working with a number of key partners, Maidstone Borough Council, Glow Arts, Visual Elements, Kent County Council, The Hazlitt Institute of Performing Arts and Mind Mid Kent who have created on online Wellbeing Wall.

Michelle Woodland, CEO of OneMaidstone said:

“February is well known for its dark evenings and reasons to stay home and hibernate. For the first time in the County Town of Maidstone we are producing the Light Up Maidstone Festival in conjunction with key partners and organised by Cohesion plus. The festival aims to bring light into the town and encourage people to venture out to enjoy a variety of professional performers and view the beautiful lanterns on parade, created by the nine participating local schools.

“This free to attend first year event, created with wellbeing at the core, provides a digital wellbeing pack of resources, available by scanning the QR code on posters, flyers or online, to help anyone in need of advice.”

Gurvinder Sandher MBE, Artistic Director at Cohesion Plus said:

“Everyone knows how tough January and February can be after the highs of Christmas, we are therefore really pleased to have co-produced the Maidstone Light Up Festival which will bring together local communities and artists and celebrate the County Town through the medium of light, arts and culture.  We hope the residents of Maidstone will come out and support these new community celebrations."

Cllr Claudine Russell, Lead Member for Leisure and Arts at MBC said:

“Come along and see this wonderful spectacle of light. The parade of children who have all made their own lanterns will weave its way through the town centre from one end up at County Hall to the main Jubilee Square. They will be accompanied by entertainers and the parade will culminate in a dazzling light show. A show not to be missed.”

For further information: www.cohesionplus.com, https://www.onemaidstone.com/events/maidstone-light-up-festival/

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