October date set for return of RiverLight arts festival

After last year’s debut success, Sleaford’s RiverLight arts festival is to take place in October after securing renewed funding.
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The new date was revealed at a public meeting at The Hub last week for anyone interested in being involved.

It was unanimously agreed to hold it on Saturday October 21. This avoids clashes with other events over the summer and allows for wider schools engagement.

Last year’s event received Government funding as part of a bid to encourage people to revisit and support the town centre after the Covid pandemic.

The date has been set for the second RiverLight festival in Sleaford. (An image from last year's event).The date has been set for the second RiverLight festival in Sleaford. (An image from last year's event).
The date has been set for the second RiverLight festival in Sleaford. (An image from last year's event).

Various arts, music, dance and drama performances lit up the town in a spectacular day of fun, focussed on the River Slea.

Increased funding has been supplied for this year from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The budget for the next two festivals is around £70k per event. The team hopes to increase investment further through sponsorship and grants.

Alan Gray, from the Economic Development team at NKDC, explained that the primary goal of the fund is to build pride in place and improve life chances, increase engagement and participation in culture.

Marion Sander from the Hub said they want to build on RiverLight as a community led project: “We also want to use the opportunity to bring exciting experiences and performances to Sleaford, to inspire us to achieve even more.”

The festival will be focused in and around the town centre, but potentially with pop-up events out of town. It will celebrate its history, stories and unique spaces, with the river at its heart. There will again be fringe events in the build-up to the main festival day and evening.

Sleaford businesses will be encouraged to develop their own festival offers.

The team would also like to connect the performance and activity zones even more by getting businesses, venues and residents to ‘activate’ their windows through light and colour.

You can get in touch by email or phone, with your ideas, thoughts and suggestions, as well as sponsorship offers. Call 01529 308710.​