'Reborn in order to grow': Morley Arts Festival set for major comeback after years away

The historic Morley Arts Festival is officially rising from the ashes this summer, returning to the town after a multi-year absence following the pandemic.

Organised by Morley Live CIC, the three-day celebration will take over the August Bank Holiday weekend (August 29 to August 31) with a completely free-to-attend line-up of live music, galleries, and performances.

Once a cornerstone of the town's cultural calendar, the original festival disappeared after the Covid-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on the area, leading to the original committee disbanding and local businesses struggling to find disposable funds to invest in its return.

Now, the festival has been completely reimagined to give the community a much-needed cultural boost.

Annie Forber, Assistant Manager at Morley Live CIC, said the rebirth of the event is exactly what the town needs right now: "Our arts festival was such a huge community event and brought so many of our diverse population of creatives together in a wonderful celebration.

“The world we live in needs art, it needs the sense of community, and it needs the joy.”

Annie continued: “That's the goal - the more people we can introduce to the arts and the passion behind them, as many aspects of the arts as we can squeeze into three days, the better."

The announcement has already triggered a massive wave of support across the town, securing backing from Morley MP Mark Sewards, alongside local councillors Jane Senior and Terry Grayshon, who are actively helping the organisers source vital funding.

"We've had such a warm response, it's been a bit overwhelming," Annie added. "The social media comments have all been positive, which is so refreshing with online negativity being so commonplace, and so many people have popped in to say they love that we're bringing it back"

Operating from Morley Live's base at 1 Beryl Burton Gardens (LS27 9FN), the festival is promising an expansive line-up running from 10am to 11pm every day.

Confirmed features include a local artist gallery, exclusive film screenings, creative Q&As, acoustic performances, live bands, spoken word open mics, guest speakers, and a drag queen story time.

Organisers are stressing that this year's event is designed to build a fresh foundation to allow the festival to grow sustainably back to - and beyond - its former glory.

"This year is just the comeback, a foundation for us to build on, so that next year we'll be even bigger and better, with even more local businesses and not-for-profits like ourselves involved” Annie stated.

“The festival needed to be reborn in order to grow, and that's what we're making happen."

To keep the event completely free to enter, organisers are calling on the community to show their support by attending with their families and spreading the word on social media.

Local creatives looking for a platform and businesses interested in sponsoring specific elements of the three-day event are also being urged to get in touch by email.