PRESTON ARTS FESTIVAL  15th - 29th September 2024

TICKET SHOP

Continue reading to view each event in more detail.

Arts & Craftastics

Saturday 14th September, 10am-4pm


Come and join us for a pre-festival day of Arts and Crafts across Preston. 

In the Fishergate Centre there will be several Craft stalls for all the family to take part in. 

The awesome WENDOLENE from Wallace & Gromit, knitted by the talented crew at The Knit & Purl Jam will be making an appearance. The ladies over at knit and purl will also be showing people the basics of how it's done. 

Punch Needle project with Lucy Barker

Lucy will be doing a punch needle project for everyone to have a go at. There will be raffle tickets on sale for the project and one lucky winner will take the finished product home. It will be absolutely amazing under Lucy's professional guidance. 

Other stalls attending on the day are as follows: Cardmaking, Jewellery Pen Making, sentiment charms, wooden bookmark creation. 

We also have a henna artist coming along. 

There will be a modest charge for make and takes to cover materials. 
We literally have Artists all over Preston.

Preston Arts Society will be around and about Preston doing a Plein Air event recreating some poignant parts of the City Centre. 

Performance at Fishergate Centre will include UCLan's Confucius dancers, Jenny's Bollywood Academy, Rhythm Carnival Troupe, Preston Circle Dancing, Worldwise Samba Drummers, Cottam Ukulele's & Preston Handbell Assemble. Some of these Acts will be moving over to Fishergate Centre in the afternoon. 

To launch the Preston Arts Festival period 15th to the 29th September 2024 is a fantastic concert at St. George’s church Preston on Sunday 15th September by two of our superb musical groups,The South Ribble Strings and Preston Opera, a sense of spectacle and occasion will be provided at this concert.

The South Ribble Strings (SRS) is a unique stringed orchestra made up of violins,violas, cellos and double bass whose musical director is Amanda Denley. The orchestra was founded in 2015, it plays concerts all around the area and they describe themselves as a friendly bunch with a combination of skilled amateur and professional musicians from the local area. Did you know that there are at least 25 different ways you can use a bow? The SRS play some fantastic music written for a string orchestra and have a most impressive list of pieces in their repertoire.

Preston Opera started in 1965 it is now the only amateur company (with professional standards) regularly mounting fully staged productions of grand opera with full orchestral accompaniment in the North West, and one of only a few in the country. At the concert the amazing soloists, well supported by the opera chorus and piano keyboard accompaniment will sing a variety of operatic music under the baton of Helen Harrison. Helen is a professional conductor whom the Opera Magazine 2022 described as “ inspiring compelling performances from the artists she collaborates with….and choirs.”

Many of the pieces to be played and sung are popular and will be well know to the audience. listening to live classical music is enjoyable possessing beauty and emotional depth that resonates across generations and provides a valuable historical record while studies have shown that actively listening can improve memory, reduce stress and boost well being.
Please come along and support this event and see for yourselves. BOOK HERE for your FREE ENTRY tickets. 

Christie J Newport has suffered unimaginable pain and adversity for most of her life. But now she is celebrating achieving her childhood dream of becoming an author with the publication of her debut crime thriller The Raven's Mark.

For the best part of 10 years she was unable to leave her bed except for painful trips to hospital.

It was not the life she had dreamed of.

She had wanted to be a writer ever since her father used to make up stories for her in her Preston bedroom.

The young Christie created her own tales which became the basis of games with her friends in the primary school playground.

But a list of her various illnesses, conditions and hospital stays would be longer than any book on the market.

Christie attended a crime-writing convention where she says she "found her tribe", and went home more determined than ever to be a writer.

She immersed herself in courses and books about writing, eventually creating The Raven's Mark which won a publishing deal when she secured the Joffe Prize for Crime Writers of Colour, external.  

It is the first in what Christie plans will be a series following Det Ch Insp Beth Fellows who finds a fresh murder is linked to a cold case from her past where victims were branded with an image of a raven.

Christie said she had always been drawn towards crime and psychological thrillers, finding the "extremes" of humanity the most interesting.

She likes mysteries, both creating and untangling them, and says crime books also offer chances to indulge in romance, comedy and psychology.

Tickets are extremely limited for this event with only 28 currently remaining. 

To avoid missing out BOOK HERE. Go grab a pizza from the wonderful Lost Bar and Pizzeria whilst listening to the resilient Christie talk about her journey. 

The established “Company of Voyces” choir under the musical directorship of the renowned Robin Stopford invite anyone interested in attending an afternoon Jazz workshop, leading to a performance (singing with the choir that evening) to get in touch via email or telephone as on the accompanying poster.

Workshop places are limited, so please book early. The choir will be accompanied by a professional Jazz trio.

The evening concert is open to the public and will prove to be an enjoyable Jazz event.

There will be a donation given to the RNLI charity from the ticket proceeds.

All That Jazz is part of a series of events promoted by the Preston Arts Association as part of the Preston Arts Festival being held from the 15th to 29th September.


BOOK HERE NOW!

TOGETHER - The Finale


Join us at Lostock Hall Conservatives Club to celebrate our last event of Preston Arts Festival 2024 on Sunday 29th September. 


We have selected just a few of the excellent local performers to put on an amazing show for the afternoon absolutely packed with variety. 


You may have seen some of our acts performing in and around Preston already: Usual Suspects, Jacqui Podoski, The Red Rosettes Show Chorus, Danny Santarc, Abhinandana Dance Academy, Preston People's Choir, Worldwise Samba Drummers, Neil Dunlop, Rhythm Carnival Troupe, Charlotte Wheatcroft, Egan Rogers Academy of Irish Dancing and UCLan's Confucius Institute. 


It promises to be an afternoon of fun, games and laughter with prizes to be won and not to forget DJ Scott hosting the event. As the poster says, a reet good shindig. 


Join us by booking HERE


£12 Family of four (Must be one adult and one child present per family ticket)

£5 per single ticket. 

The news is out!! Our first event announcement of Preston Arts Festival 2024 promises to be an outstanding concert!


Preston Symphony Orchestra are in Preston Arts Festival 2024 and we couldn't be more excited about it. Tickets are available now! (See link below)


Please spread the word!


The newly formed (January 2024) Preston Symphony Orchestra; which has 56 instrumentalists held its inaugural concert last night. Like a “Phoenix out of the ashes” the new orchestra is taking over from the original Preston Symphony orchestra; which disbanded in the mid 1960’s. The principal conductor is Marco Giudici and the Deputy conductor is John Chapman, the orchestra delights in promoting the beauty of popular, classical as well as new music in the community.


Preston Symphony Orchestra is on its journey to success starting with its phenomenal inaugural concert last evening of music from stage and screen, on Sunday 9th June at Ashton Methodist church; which was a sell out and enjoyed by all, especially the orchestra themselves when receiving their truly deserved standing ovation.


The Preston Symphony Orchestra will perform it’s second concert as part of the Preston Arts Festival on 22nd September 2024 at St Leonard’s church Penwortham as part of Preston Arts Festival.

It will be amazing for Preston to have its very own orchestra again and we look forward to another rousing, emotional musical journey.

Please come and see for yourself.


Go and grab your tickets HERE before they disappear.


Adults: £12, Concessions: £9


These will sell out, so buy sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.