Spanning 11 days and bringing together a wide selection of artists from the worlds of literature and music, TOWN Festival is designed to tantalise your ears and energise your mind.
The event is the collaborative effort of Michael Ainsworth, owner of Halifax grassroots live music venue The Grayston Unity, and Sarah Shaw, who runs the magnificent independent and contemporary bookshop The Book Corner in The Piece Hall.
The idea came together a few years back as a way to create a happening of cultural significance in Halifax, showcasing local creative talent alongside established names.
Michael: “It’s a fun thing to do. It gets a bit of focus on what we do and what the bookshop does as well. And it can allow you to put stuff on you wouldn’t normally think about. You know, do something a bit different.”
As with any project of a considerable size, there’s a lot of work done in the background to make it a reality. For Michael and Sarah, that work began at the back end of last year.
“The classic starting point is to try and get some headliners in first and go back from there. We were kind of lucky we managed to get a Minster gig. It is a huge effort in its own right. It’s a really long, hard piece of work on the day and it’s probably the last thing I need to be doing because it usually wipes me out for about three days, but Minster gigs are really special.”
The headliners for the prestigious Halifax Minster gig on Friday 18th October are the Mercury-nominated Lanterns on the Lake. It seems a perfect fit: Ambient, theatric indie-rock soundscapes in a majestic, ornate 15th-century building. What’s more, Radiohead drummer Philip Selway, who joined Lanterns on the Lake for a series of live shows in 2023, will be playing a rare solo set in the support slot.
“There’s going to be two drum kits set up. Logistically, it’s a challenge because it’s a church. There isn’t much room and there are issues with sightlines and all that. But it’s worth it.”
Elsewhere, the festival programme features one of this year’s most talked-about punk bands in Loose Articles. Then you’ve got the melodic, psych-pop of Heavy Salad, deft, poignant Oklahoma songwriter Gordon Mckinney and Mike Berenyi of 90s shoegaze band Lush.
On the literary side, there are in-conversation events with Kevin Duffy of publishers Bluemoose Books, Kirsty Loehr, author of A Short History Of Queer Women, and the award-winning writer and journalist, Saima Mir.
Bridging the two spheres, there are talks with John Robb (Louder Than War, The Membranes), broadcaster Stuart Maconie, journalist David Hepworth and Britpop figurehead Jane Savidge. There’s also a writing workshop with poet-comedian-musician John Hegley, who will be performing later the same day.
As Michael says, the construct of a festival allows plenty of room for lateral thinking too and one particularly eye-catching name on this year’s festival line-up is ‘The Radical Halifax Exhibition’.
“It’s going to be so good. I’ve seen what’s been produced by local artist Marcus Jack and it’s great. He is just a fantastic painter. It’s really powerful. When I had the idea about a year and a half ago, about doing something to remember the radical nature of Halifax, in terms of its people, I never thought it would be part of the festival. It should exist in its own right and it certainly should be going on longer than ten days.”
There is an emphasis on local culture and talent running throughout the festival. As well as Radical Halifax, there are numerous events with local authors, Halifax punk poet Keiron Higgins will be supporting funk-ska favourites Brigantes, and there are two emerging band showcases featuring Grow, Deep Sea Lemons, The Carmines and doogle.
The Line-up: TOWN Festival 2024
For more information and to buy tickets, go the festival hubs on The Grayston Unity or The Book Corner websites.
10th OCTOBER
8pm – Brigantes + Faithful Johannes + Keiron Higgins | £7
11th OCTOBER
6pm – Kevin Boniface & Bluemoose Books | £4
8pm – Loose Articles + support | £13
12th OCTOBER
11 – 3pm – Radical Halifax Exhibition | Donation
11am – Storytime with Sophie Edgar | Free
12pm – John Matthews | Free
2.30pm – Jane Savidge & John Robb in conversation | £7/£5
5pm – Stuart Maconie in conversation | £7/£5
7pm – David Hepworth:Music Chat | £7/£5
8pm – DJ Turnip’s All Vinyl Set (free)
8pm – Heavy Salad + support | £11
13th OCTOBER
11 – 3pm – Radical Halifax Exhibition | Free
11am – Dragons of Wainhouse Tower Storytime | Free
3pm – Dave Russell: Writings of Phyllis Bentley | £4
3pm – Deep Sea Lemons + The Carmines + The Booth | Min donation £5
4:30pm – Rebel Girls with Jill Liddington | £4
4.30pm |- Phil Earle & Liz Flanagan:Writing for Children | £7/£5
6pm – Short History of Queer Women with Kirsty Loehr | £4
16th OCTOBER
11 – 3pm – Radical Halifax Exhibition | Free
17th OCTOBER
8pm – Harry Stobart’s Jazz Club – John Settle | Donation
18th OCTOBER
11 – 3pm – Radical Halifax Exhibition | Donation
8pm – Lanterns On The Lake/Philip Selway | £22
8.30pm – Future Roots – Doogle + Grow
19th OCTOBER
11am – Radical Halifax Talk with Dan Whittall | Free
11 – 3pm – Radical Halifax Exhibition | Donation
11am – Chris Mould Illustration Workshop | £15/£12
2pm – Gordon McKinney | Donation
4pm – John Hegley Writing Workshop | £10/£8
4pm – Miki Berenyi in conversation | £4
7pm – John Hegley Performance | £10/£8
8pm – Miki Berenyi Trio | £19
20th OCTOBER
11am – Darkly Funny Tales with Anna Best | Free
11 – 3pm – Radical Halifax Exhibition | Donation
12pm – Chris Goddard Walk & Workshop | £7/£5
3pm – Gaia Holmes Writing Workshop | £10/£8
3pm – Gordon McKinney/Les Gillon & The Agents of Karma | £8
4pm – Cactusville | Free
5pm – Michael Stewart & Claire O’Callaghan on Emily Brontë | £7/£5
7pm – Town Poetry: Local Verse, Local Verve | £12/£10
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