A festival celebrating art, dance, theatre and music will be coming to town this weekend for the first time.
The Ramsbottom Come Together Festival will take place on Sunday, September 22 and give opportunities for everyone to hear great music and poetry, learn to dance or paint, join a choir or try their hand at playing an instrument.
The festival will include a choir performing in St Paul’s Church followed by a live jazz performance, theatre tours and spoken word performances at the Theatre Royal.
Watercolour painting will be available to do at Clark Craft and music will be played all afternoon at The Oaks pub, Irwell Works Brewery, Casked and The Railway.
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Headline act Mr Wilson’s Second Liners brass band will be taking over the streets with their signature combination of New Orleans jazz and 90s club classics.
Children from primary schools including Stubbins, St Joseph’s, Hazlehurst and Holcombe Brook have been competing in art and storytelling competitions with great prizes up for grabs.
Their work is displayed in shop windows around the town and younger artists can get involved by following the Ramsbottom arts trail and seeing how many works of art they can spot.
The day has been put together by the Save Our Co-op Hall team, a group dedicated to restoring Ramsbottom’s hidden gem, a 19th Century, Grade II listed music hall on Bolton Street.
The plan is to offer a taste of what a fully functioning Co-op Hall might be able to bring to Ramsbottom’s community and show the boost it could bring to businesses.
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The group has already had success in securing nearly £300,000 in grant funding and the next step is matching that money in community shares so they can buy the building.
One of its founding members, Matt Dunkin, said: “We are offering the people of Ramsbottom a chance to purchase a piece of history.
“By pledging to buy a community share, they will be bringing back the Ramsbottom Co-op Hall in public ownership, allowing us to develop it into a community asset.
“We have the opportunity together to gift Ramsbottom a venue that will attract world class talent – a space where you might watch a play on Monday, a film on Wednesday, stand-up on Friday, see a gig on Saturday and maybe even get married on the Sunday!”
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Built in 1876, the theatre is a rare surviving example from the Co-operative movement.
Seating more than 800 people in its heyday over two floors, it was once the main social and entertainment venue in the town.
Founding member, Stephen Marley, said: “The Come Together Festival is a real celebration.
“It’s an opportunity for us to show off just how many talented artists we have locally and exchange skills.
“This is a festival for everyone – so even if you have never been in a theatre or a gallery before, we promise there is something for you.
“This is the first Come Together Festival and we hope for it to become an important staple on the Ramsbottom calendar as we realise our dream of bringing the Co-op Hall back to the people of Rammy.”
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