The Tapton Mini was a big success!
The Tapton Mini was a big success!
Despite the Tapton Lock Festival being a smaller affair this year, hundreds of families turned out for Tapton Lock Mini on Sunday 8th September. They enjoyed participating in art, augmented reality, live theatre, canoeing and boat rides!
In April Junction Arts announced that, due to unforeseen circumstances, it would not be staging the full festival weekend in 2024. Still, they were determined to offer a mini festival for our loyal visitors to enjoy. Introducing Tapton Lock Mini, a small but perfectly formed event, where visitors could take a trip on a narrowboat, try the ever-popular ‘Have a Go’ canoes or take part in two artist-led workshops.
Junction Arts also presented its newly commissioned theatre piece, The Journey from Here to Now co-produced with children and young people in and around Chesterfield. Adverse Camber, an independent storytelling company created a brand-new promenade performance, with three shows taking place over the day. Visitors could watch, walk with or participate in the performance, which even took a trip on the Chesterfield Canal on a narrowboat!
There was also the Six Pillars superhero trail, which featured an interactive display of work produced by young people across North East Derbyshire, using AR (augmented reality).
Visitors could scan the creations to show stop-motion animation and were given challenges to complete as they made their way along the trail. They also had the chance to make their own superhero with the Junction Arts team.
Project Manager, Jane Wells said: “We managed to pack a lot of brilliant activities into Tapton Lock Mini, which is the twelfth year we have staged an event at the Tapton Lock Visitor Centre. Thank you to everyone who came along on Sunday, you brought the sunshine and we had a fabulous day! Thank you to our sponsors, Stoneacre Chesterfield, who have supported the event for 10 years, and a final thank you to all the volunteers, without this support, free events like this would not be possible.”
“We have some exciting plans for Tapton Lock Festival 2025, which we hope will be bigger and better than ever.”