Celebratory festival seeks backers

A cultural festival celebrating the north will be held in Leeds this summer and organisers are looking for supporters.

Hannah Festival will include arts and music events, debates, new science and technology, family-friendly activities, local craft beers and a pop-up shop selling hand-made products from across the north.

Aiming to “discover the best of the north”, the festival will draw on the expertise and enthusiasm of people living and working here.

“People in Leeds will organise the events they want to see happening, making connections with other places in the north and internationally,” said festival organiser Andrew Wilson.

Wilson and his team are asking 100 people to pledge £20 to the project via Kickstarter, the crowdfunding website. In exchange, supporters will receive a credit in the festival programme and a handmade print from the Print Project in Bradford, a design and printing studio which uses traditional, hand-powered printing presses.

Organisers say Hannah Festival, named after northern suffragette and rebel Hannah Mitchell, will be an annual event, relocating across the north year to year, moving to Newcastle next year and Sheffield and Doncaster in 2015.
The festival aims to highlight new activities in any field, including arts, science and business.

Inspirational

Wilson said: “We’re asking three questions – what great stuff is happening in the north of England now, who is doing it, and how can more of it happen?”

As an example, he pointed to the Small Cinema project in Moston, Manchester (pictured).

“A group of artists and local volunteers got together and turned an empty room at the Miners Arts and Music Centre into a working cinema,” he said.

“It’s an inspirational project, built on creativity, co-operation and hard work.”

To donate and claim a limited edition print visit www.kickstarter.com and search for Hannah Festival