Confessional Festival to be held in Holy Trinity Church - how to get tickets
Blackburn's Confessional Festival is returning to its spiritual home for 2025
The music festival, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary, will be held over two days at Holy Trinity Church in September.
In recent years, the festival has been held at the Exchange in Blackburn which is now undergoing a multi-million pound facelift.
Confessional offers an experience unlike any other with curated art installations, a buzzing bar and a true sense of community.
Confessional at Holy Trinity ChurchPromoter Pete Eastwood who has been the driving force behind the festival for a decade, said: "I am delighted to be in a position to stage a 10th anniversary Confessional in our hometown, and original church. Thanks to the wonderful Arts Council England.
"We would love for people to come together and help us celebrate, and join us on the dancefloor, for a wow factor weekend of live music, fabulous art, and supporting local creatives."
Event manager Conor Synnott said: "Every year we push a little further, but this year's shaping up to be something really special. If you've never been before, this is the year to do it.'
Rebecca Faulkner who handles artist liaison for Confessional added: "Ten years of laughter, music, madness, and magic. Confessional 2025 is our thank-you to Blackburn for believing in it."
In returning to Holy Trinity, a redundant former parish church now under the control of the Churches Conservation Trust, the festival will be set amid stained glass windows glowing with light offering cathedral acoustics and leaving festivalgoers with a feeling that's as spiritual as it is electric.
The line-up is currently under wraps but Confessional has a reputation for bringing rising stars and future headliners to Blackburn. Previous artists to have appeared at the festival have included Working Men's Club, Red Rum Club, Rianne Downey, Brooke Combe and Calva Louise.
Confessional will be held on Friday, September 12 and Saturday, September 13. Tickets are available from 9am today (Friday, May 30) from www.confessionalfestival.co.uk and www.fatsoma.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Gloucestershire in Pictures: Cheese roll and rugby
What a week in Gloucestershire - once again, our county traditions have stunned people across the world, as millions watched footage of the cheese rolling down Cooper's Hill. There was to be no fairytale top-four ending for Gloucester Rugby, but they gave thousands of fans at Kingsholm a win to take them into the summer. Wychwood Festival arrived at Cheltenham Racecourse, and there have been the usual stunning scenes across the county. Not to be: Gloucester fans filled the streets around Kingsholm in the build-up to the final match of the season on Saturday. The cherry and whites ended with a win against Northampton but finished just outside the play-off places. Cheesy does it: One last look back at the 2025 Gloucestershire cheese rolling from Bank Holiday Monday, an event that once again drew competitors from all over the world and was watched by thousands at the scene and millions online. Sunny start: The weather really came through on Friday evening for the first day of Wychwood Festival 2025, where artists like Daniel Bedingfield, Scouting for Girls and Shed Seven are performing. The festival transforms Cheltenham Racecourse each year into a family festival - and this year it's looking bigger and better than ever. Heritage: Nestled among the houses of the Cotswold village of Ozleworth is the historic St Nicholas Church. No longer a regularly used place of worship, it is maintained by volunteers from the Churches Conservation Trust. Cheers! The Brockweir Inn Community Benefit Society has successfully purchased the remarkable 16th Century village tavern on the banks of the River Wye. This community collective is now launching a second share offer to raise the funds needed to refurbish and reopen their historic village pub. The share offer opens on 1 June and will run for six weeks until 15 July. Stunning settings: A mixed week of weather in the county but enough sunshine for this beautiful photo captured in Hardwicke by our weather watcher, Tone Poet. Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Gloucestershire in pics: Pies and record breakers Gloucestershire in pics: Water, water everywhere Gloucestershire in pics: Jazz fever in Cheltenham Gloucestershire in Pictures: Keeping it cool Gloucestershire in Pictures: A tryfest at Kingsholm Gloucestershire in pics: Narrowboats and bluebells Gloucestershire in Pictures: Pelicans and dancing Gloucestershire in pics: Blossom and community Gloucestershire in pics: Derby delight and sunsets Gloucestershire in pics: EMF, penguins and rugby Gloucestershire in pics: Loud outfits and stunning sunsets Gloucestershire in pics: Pancakes and rugby wins Gloucestershire in Pictures: Spring sunshine and stadium renaming Gloucestershire in pictures: Wildlife and history Gloucestershire in pictures: Celebs and canines Gloucestershire in pictures: Candlemas and frosts Gloucestershire in pics: Wolf moon and pine martens Gloucestershire in pics: Snow and sunrises Gloucestershire in pictures: Pink skies and frosty mornings Gloucestershire in pics: Festive spirit spreading Gloucestershire in pics: Decorations fit for a King Gloucestershire in pictures: Snow and winter walks Gloucestershire in pics: Winter walks and sunrises Gloucestershire in pictures: Sunsets and fireworks Gloucestershire in pics: Pink skies and autumn trees Gloucestershire in pictures: Floods and rugby Gloucestershire in pictures: Super moons and epic challenges Gloucestershire in pictures: Medals and rainbow clouds Gloucestershire in pictures: Stars and soap boxes Gloucestershire in pictures: Rowing records and fantasy characters Gloucestershire in pictures: Farm fun and public art
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Confessional Festival to be held in Holy Trinity Church - how to get tickets
Blackburn's Confessional Festival is returning to its spiritual home for 2025 The music festival, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary, will be held over two days at Holy Trinity Church in September. In recent years, the festival has been held at the Exchange in Blackburn which is now undergoing a multi-million pound facelift. Confessional offers an experience unlike any other with curated art installations, a buzzing bar and a true sense of community. Confessional at Holy Trinity ChurchPromoter Pete Eastwood who has been the driving force behind the festival for a decade, said: "I am delighted to be in a position to stage a 10th anniversary Confessional in our hometown, and original church. Thanks to the wonderful Arts Council England. "We would love for people to come together and help us celebrate, and join us on the dancefloor, for a wow factor weekend of live music, fabulous art, and supporting local creatives." Event manager Conor Synnott said: "Every year we push a little further, but this year's shaping up to be something really special. If you've never been before, this is the year to do it.' Rebecca Faulkner who handles artist liaison for Confessional added: "Ten years of laughter, music, madness, and magic. Confessional 2025 is our thank-you to Blackburn for believing in it." In returning to Holy Trinity, a redundant former parish church now under the control of the Churches Conservation Trust, the festival will be set amid stained glass windows glowing with light offering cathedral acoustics and leaving festivalgoers with a feeling that's as spiritual as it is electric. The line-up is currently under wraps but Confessional has a reputation for bringing rising stars and future headliners to Blackburn. Previous artists to have appeared at the festival have included Working Men's Club, Red Rum Club, Rianne Downey, Brooke Combe and Calva Louise. Confessional will be held on Friday, September 12 and Saturday, September 13. Tickets are available from 9am today (Friday, May 30) from and
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Curtain call for commissions: Is British theatre in crisis?
A study from the BBC has found that last year, the 40-top funded theatre companies put on 229 original commissions, a 31% drop from the 332 productions put on in 2014. For the research, it analysed the showings from 2014 and 2024 at the UK's top 40 venues, festivals and touring companies that have the highest annual grants from Arts Council England (ACE), the country's government's culture funding body, and counted the number of professional productions over an hour that ran for at least a week. Related On its 200th anniversary, The Old Market Theatre is still innovating Volunteer actors rail against Jeff Bezos private performance of 'You Me Bum Bum Train' The steep decline in original commissions demonstrates the severe state of the UK's theatre industry. At the other end of the financial spectrum, theatres are struggling to keep their doors open. A 2024 study found that one in five theatres need at least £5 million (€5.8 million) to remain open in a decade. Without significant financial investment, 40% could close within the next five years. With the top theatres not staging as many plays and the lower-earning theatres facing closure, concern has also been raised about the youth pipeline for theatre-makers. Drama is declining as an available school subject across the country, while major drama schools are shutting down, with the Bristol Old Vic theatre school closing its doors after nearly 80 years of training actors. Responding to the BBC's investigation, Leeds Playhouse chief executive and artistic director James Brining said that his theatre's decision to cut their original shows from 12 to eight a year is due to increasing expenses. 'We love making work. So it's heartbreaking that the amount of work you can make is reducing, and it is reducing the pipeline opportunities for artists at the beginning of their careers,' Brining said. If it is costly for theatres to stage work, it is near impossible for the freelancers behind the productions to make ends meet in the UK's current cost-of-living crisis. Responses to a 2024 Freelancers Make Theatre Work showed that over a third of freelance theatre-makers earned under the National Living Wage. 'Although freelancers feel valued, respected and uplifted by their colleagues, they feel there is a lack of support from arts organisations, politicians, and funding bodies. Whilst there is an evident love for the job and the craft of theatre-making, as one freelancer aptly put it: 'love is not enough',' the executive summary of the survey said. Theatre-maker and blogger Carl Woodward wrote on X: 'of course, a big drop in plays staged by theatres, is a big drop in writer commissions, a big drop in director opportunities, a big drop in designer gigs, a big drop in stage management jobs – on it goes – there is clear and present danger for regional theatre in Britain'. Related Michael Sheen to fund new Welsh national theatre Many of the major theatre productions in the UK are now co-productions between theatres. This splits the financial investment, reducing the risk and allowing productions to tour across the country. While this creates opportunities for bigger productions, it has meant a reduction in smaller shows that are often the breeding ground for new talents. These larger productions – often musicals – are also more likely to be aimed at crowd pleasing over challenging theatrical works. 'When money is tight, people want a good night out and they don't want to take a risk,' Salisbury Playhouse artistic director Gareth Machin said. 'They're probably not coming out as much as they were, so when they do come out they don't want to take a chance on something they're not sure is going to be entertaining and a fun experience,' he added. In 2022, ACE was heavily criticised when its five-year funding plans for institutions revealed that funding had been cut from many key establishments in the UK's culture scene. Of these, two theatres that specialised in producing new writing, the Hampstead Theatre and Donmar Warehouse, were cut entirely from the funding list. As cuts rampage across the theatre industry, there are some shreds of hope. In response to Arts Council Wales slashing £1.6 million (€1.9 million) from the National Theatre Wales's budget, forcing its closure, actor Michael Sheen has set up a new Welsh National Theatre. 'Welsh theatre makers, Welsh stories and Welsh actors' will be put at the forefront of the venture, Sheen said. 'I want it to be something that represents the rich culture that we are and always have been in this country.'
