Nell Stevens In 2013, Nell Stevens struggled to write her Ph.D. thesis about Elizabeth Gaskell while navigating the rocky landscape of a long-distance love affair.In 1857, following the publication of her controversial Life of Charlotte Brontë , Mrs Gaskell escaped to Rome where she met the love of her life, the American author and social re...

A Normal Universe Well-known for his work in TV and film production, Henry Normal is rediscovering his first love, poetry.Deborah Grace catches up with him ahead of his forthcoming appearance at DAF 2019. Henry Normal is in Bexhill with the in-laws.They're just out for a walk with his wife, Angela, and 19-year-old son, Johnny, so Henry's grabbing a...

Former divorce lawyer turned bestselling kindle author, Caroline England, talks to Deborah Grace about the inspiration for her new novel Betray Her. What is your earliest memory? I can't remember much before I was eight.That's when I went to boarding school, which defined my childhood.I vividly remember being homesick and dreadfully missing my pare...

ZunTold Stories A new, independent publishing house, specialising in children's and young adult fiction, aims to place Manchester authors on the front cover. ZunTold is the brainchild of Elaine Bousfield, from Chorlton, whose long-held dream has been to combine her twin passions, literature and therapy. 'I've been a writer, myself, and my backgroun...

Blog post   The Child Who Spoke With Her Eyes, Sue Stern  I'm delighted to be presenting once again at the wonderful Didsbury Arts Festival. This time I shall talk about The Child Who Spoke With Her Eyes, my recently published 1960s/70s memoir of Vanessa, our beautiful, charismatic daughter. She was profoundly disabled by cerebral palsy b...

  Local companies answer the call to be curious ! File Name: Major-sponsors-announced-for-DAF-20192 File Size: 136 kb Download File

After a number of years organising and delivering the community lantern parade, DAF will be taking a step back this year as we look towards the planning of the 2019 festival taking place from 22 - 30 June. Thank you to everyone who has supported, attended or participated in the parade in the past. We look forward to working with community grou...

Transient Roots was a poetic audio trail commisioned for DAF 2017 tracing the artists experience of growing up in care around Didsbury. 10 poems could be experienced in the location they reference.   Louise Wallwein wrote a new cycle of poetry honouring the houses that were once her homes. The audience were able to follow the trail, listen to the poetry and reflect on the care experience and history, while taking a journey into the artist's childhood. The audio poems were discovered by the audience who received a map and a route to follow where they encountered temporary plaques placed outside each house, like a digital blue plaque with a QR code. These could then be scanned with a phone to reveal a poem in audio or text form that reveals a hidden narrative reflecting some aspect of the artists experience of that location. During the 10 days of the festival these were only able to be...

Celebrating great-tasting memories! Deborah Grace interviews Helen Jack of Food Sorcery Mention Christmas cake and I’m six years old again, wooden spoon in hand, at the little, rickety table in my Liverpool nana’s tiny kitchen. Stirring the stiff, treacly mixture in the biscuit- coloured mixing bowl, I close my eyes and make a wish... ‘ We eat to stay alive, but food also brings people together ,’ says Helen Jack of Didsbury-based cookery school, Food Sorcery. ‘ A special occasion is always centred on food and that creates memories and the joy of spending time together.’ The power of our food memories is celebrated in FEED, an intriguing DAF project being hosted in the Food Sorcery Cookery School a t the Waterside Hotel (2-4 pm, 14 May). Participants are invited to bring along a special dish and to share their recipes and the personal stories behind them. ‘One person has already...

DAF 2017 Music Promo Competition Submit Your Entry Now! Entry to the competition is FREE DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL 5 JUNE! Didsbury Arts Festival and Manchester Film School have teamed up this year to create a Music Video Promo competition. Budding film makers can have their film shown as part of the festival programme in a real cinema and win £100 prize money . There are two categories to take part in, one for 16-19 year olds and one for 19's and over. Any style of music video film style will be considered, shot on any camera and any format (so long as it can be hosted on line). Films must be no more than 2 years old and no longer than 5 mins in total. For full details on how to apply and terms and conditions,  click here  

Didsbury Lantern Parade will be back on Saturday 12 November 2016 - 6pm   We have a new venue, Please meet at the Pavillion Cafe in Didsbury Park Join us again for the fantastic DAF Lantern Parade, taking place this year in Didsbury Park. Bring your lantern, join the parade and enjoy the spectacle.  With contributions from local artists and musicians.  All welcome! 
£2 donation per adult on the gates. We are delighted to be working with professional lantern maker Sean Braithwaite to make this years event the best ever. We are also proud to be working with Friends of Didsbury Park to help run this years event. Thanks to everyone in the community who supports this much loved event! Need help getting creative? Come along to one of our Lantern Building Workshops. £10 per Lantern (which you get to keep!) All materials included. Everyone welcome! Lantern Building Workshops Saturday 5...

We are currenly recruiting a Festival Co-ordinator at Didsbury Arts Festival to assist in developing the 2017 festival, see below for more details. Festival Coordinator (Freelance) About Didsbury Arts Festival: Didsbury Arts Festival is a volunteer-led, multi-arts festival, celebrating creative culture in Didsbury, through working with local, national and international artists. DAF is a biennial event and the next festival will take place on the following dates: 24th June - 2nd July 2017. Since 2009 this community-led festival has been bringing the town to life with a rich programme spanning two weekends of visual art, music, theatre and fun. Since 2015 a small paid team have been brought on board to support the work of the volunteers. Suitability: This role would suit a recent graduate with a passion for the arts and with experience of organising events who wants to gain further experience of arts management. Responsible for: To assist the...

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The Mic Bytes poetry slam at The Art of Tea was one of the highlights of the Festival this year. Those taking part were asked to come up with a poem that responded to the Festival's theme Inbetween   Places . Liv Barnes, a 19 year old spoken word artist, beat out some stiff competition to be crowned the champion on the night, walking away with a £50 cash prize. Her winning poem, Escape Artist , is included below.       Escape Artist by Liv Barnes I will always encompass a certain amount of space no matter where the compass points or geological place my matter takes this form of legs arms body face in a way, we're all trapped in jail cells wanting to get away I'm not talking about a building, more the compilation of your body cells people escape in different ways, because we've got different brains...

  Manchester-based writer Sarah  Butler  invited festival-goers to experience the festival theme, In-between places, with her on walks that followed the boundaries of East and West Didsbury. In addition to two public walks where Sarah engaged in a conversation with participants, she also invited along another commissioned artist, Phil Griffin. After each walk, Sarah posted her writings and photos to the festival website as a creative response to the walks. The pieces produced from each of the four walks can viewed by following the links below: Walking the Edge: Monday, Walk #1 Walking the Edge: Tuesday, Walk #2 Walking the Edge: Wednesday, Walk #3 Walking the Edge: Thursday, Walk #4

All events are free and run Sat 20 June- Sun 28 June, unless otherwise stated This year’s Visual Arts Trail encompasses exhibitions right across Didsbury. Explore works by local artists in local venues and look out for works by local school children in shops and businesses too. Anne Catherine Miller On the Edge of Town | Bourbon and Black A series of paintings by local artist Anne Catherine Miller Cecile Elstein Of Being | Jo Padmore, Wimslow Road Currents act as metaphor for time and being in existence. The colour white as light catches the surfaces of matter. It dances over everything:  the weight, texture, touch of the sea, shelter and tree. In this blue and white celebratory screen  print, I have worked towards an equal balance of being and action. Claire Atkinson Bus 42 Photographs | East Didsbury Railway Station Photographs taken from the window of the bus 42. CM...

  Win a signed copy of Nick Royle's novel.   As part of The Didsbury Arts Festival, Metrolink has teamed up with one of the festival’s star acts this year, Nicholas Royle, to offer 10 bookworms the chance to win a signed copy of his latest book, ‘First Novel’.   A man with many talents, Nicholas is a creative writing lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and he an editor at a small publishing company called Salt, where The Lighthouse, written by Alison Moore, was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize competition last year. Nick is a renowned author in Manchester and we are giving you the opportunity to get hold of his latest book!   With Metrolink’s South Manchester Line now extending to Didsbury it is quick and easy for Didsbury residents and guests from outside the village to travel by tram to the Didsbury Arts Festival events and exhibitions this...

At Didsbury Arts Festival we are committed to safeguarding and preserving the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy explains what happens to any personal data that you provide to us, or that we collect from you whilst you visit our site. We do update this Policy from time to time so please do review this Policy regularly. Information We Collect In running and maintaining our website we may collect and process the following data about you: i. Information about your use of our site including details of your visits such as pages viewed and the resources that you access. Such information includes traffic data, location data and other communication data. ii. Information provided voluntarily by you. For example, when you register for information. iii. Information that you provide when you communicate with us by any means. Use of Cookies We use cookies on our website for a variety of reasons...

DAF's ability to deliver the variety and number of festival events is made possible through the help of generous local businesses and individuals. DAF sponsors and advertisers enjoy reaching engaged local audiences through more than 35,000 printed programmes and posters, over 5000 Facebook and Twitter followers, over 20,000 visits to the DAF website, and through dedicated press exposure in both local and national newspapers, television, radio and online. Whether a business or an individual, you too can support a great local charity through donations of time, goods or money as well as through sponsorship or advertising. Get in touch to find out how you can benefit from the reach, innovation and excitement of thi great local festival - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The Didsbury Arts Festival is a registered charity (no. 1158370). You can support us online at didsburyartsfestival.org or collections at festival events. Funders               Gold...