Arts Derbyshire

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MELBOURNE FESTIVAL ART & ARCHITECTURE TRAIL

Event details

The holidays are over, and it is time to start counting down to Melbourne Festival, an event we look forward to every year. Melbourne Festival Art & Architecture Trail on 16th & 17th September brings everyone out on the streets and brings art to the heart of South Derbyshire.
The Festival is still a not for profit event organised by local volunteers which has established Melbourne as a destination for people who enjoy art but also provides a great opportunity for local people to bump into old friends and a great excuse for visitors to come from further afield!

This year the Art & Architecture Trail is open on Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th September and will feature 140 Artists exhibiting in 60 venues in the historic centre of Melbourne, pick up the Trail Guide, which has been £5 for the past 15 years, to follow the map and find all the artists. The Festival has a great reputation for the Creative Arts and attracts a huge variety of artists and creatives who exhibit each year they are all from the Midlands, the majority of the artists live or work in Derbyshire making it a great destination for people who want to support local artists, with the added bonus that it is easy to catch up with the artists near to home later in the year.

Make sure you visit Creative Melbourne Gallery on Church Street – number 1 on the Trail to meet the resident artists, Patrick Twiss-Prentice and April Young exhibiting in their studios and to see “The Necklace of Stars” – Arts Derbyshire fabulous lockdown project creating a stunning patchwork quilt, poetry and lullaby’s with isolated elderly people.
Artists are also exhibiting in private homes and the public halls & churches around the village centre. One of the highlights to look out for around the Art Trail is the sculpture in beautiful private gardens which aren’t usually open to the public.
Melbourne Festival is committed to supporting young artists through the annual Emerging Artist Award, the twelve shortlisted artists will be exhibiting at Melbourne Assembly Rooms during the Festival where the prize winners for the £500 and £250 Award will be announced at the Festival and visitors can vote on their favourite piece to decide The People’s Choice Award winner.

Families are always welcome at Melbourne Festival and this year our theme for younger children is WILD. At the Book Stops and Family Garden at the Rectory you will find bees, bugs and butterflies made by students from Melbourne Junior School and Littleover Community School are everywhere! The Rectory Garden is a haven for children and families as well as insects during the weekend with Music Time at 2pm each day and Rhyme Time with poet Attie Lime at 3pm!

Keep your eyes peeled for street installations by Derby College students around the Trail, these pieces continue our WILD theme highlighting the need to support our bees, bugs and butterflies, the work will be heading downstream to Derby for Feste at the end of September!

Don’t miss, classic cars at Melbourne Hall and live music at the Busk Stops and Food Fayres at Castle Farm and Melbourne Assembly Rooms – you will also find fantastic food at Melbourne’s many cafes, restaurants and pubs!

Entry £5 per adult (under 18’s free).

Park & Ride at Tori & Ben’s Farm Shop Kings Newton Lane DE73 8DD or Melbourne Schools Packhorse Road DE73 8JE

Melbourne Festival puts art at the heart of South Derbyshire.

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