About WordFest Make Words Count

A month-long festival celebrating the impact of words in every corner of our lives.

1-31 October 2021

About WordFest Make Words Count

Our Festival Venues What’s on where

Libraries Visit your local library in person or online throughout the month of October for a huge range of over 240 free events for all ages including author talks, storytimes, crafts, music and even film showings. Look out for our brightly decorated library WordLab displays, take part in weekly festival challenges, and keep an eye on our social media sites for Word of the Day.

Community venues Community partners across the Wakefield district are hosting free WordFest events with visiting artists in community centres including Certainty of Chance Theatre who will be exploring the Wakefield Way 70 mile circular walking route around the district through creative writing. Look out for adult and family events at locations across the district in your community including:

• The Addy, Knottingley

• Altofts Community Sport Foundation

• Queens Mill, Castleford

• St Marys Community Centre, Pontefract

Festival Partner venuesWordFest has teamed up this year to support special words and climate themed collaborative events. Look out for...

• Not So Alone by CoActive Saturday 2 October The Make Space (first floor), Ridings Shopping Centre

• Laurel Poetry Prize Friday 8 October National award ceremony with poet laureate Simon Armitage. Hosted by Yorkshire Sculpture Park

• Breathing Room Art installation by Anna Berry in association with Unlimited. 23-30 October WX The Factory (former Market Food Hall)

WX, Union StreetJoin us during October half term from 23-30 October daily 10am-4pm for the festival finale, a pop-up exhibition, art installation and immersive experience all rolled into one. Curated by Backstage Academy with spectacular sound and visual effects and featuring three zones of activity representing three biomes of our planet, this free exhibition is not to be missed! With theatre, music, film and performances for all ages including a live talk by Award winning wildlife film maker Doug Allan on Thursday 28 October.

Visitors can experience The Ocean zone, an underwater wonderland featuring a 18m long inflatable whale, the Enchanted Forest zone featuring trees of wisdom contributed by communities across our district, and the Air zone with an installation of The Butterfly Effect by Tony Wade, a mesmerising aerial exhibit of butterflies created at schools and community workshops throughout 2021.

LitFestLitFest, WordFest’s sister festival co-delivered and designed by young people aged 14-25 is back for 2021 with great opportunities for young people to get involved in experimenting with the spoken and written word and experience organising and running their own festival. Check out their social media and blog for information on workshops, writing opportunities, reviews, podcasts, short stories and much more. Including an open-mic takeover at WX (former Market Hall) on the evening of Monday 25 October.

@WakefieldLitFest

@WakeyLitfest

WakeyLitFest

Led by Wakefield Libraries as part of Festival of the Earth, WordFest 2021 combines the power of our spoken and written language through poetry, theatre, debate, song and creative writing with the Festival of the Earth themes and how words can be employed to inform, entertain and educate us on climate change and sustainability. Words used to celebrate our amazing planet and face its future as the climate emergency unfolds will combine throughout the month of October across the district and end with a spectacular immersive exhibition at WX (former Market Hall) during half term week 23-30 October.

For more information on the hundreds of events taking place during the festival month or to book your free place, head over to our social media channels, visit bit.ly/WordFestWFD or scan the below QR code

WordFest is brought to you thanks to:

WordFest is a festival celebrating the spoken and written word in all its forms and its important place in our culture. Whether words are used to communicate mundane facts or complex concepts words have a power all of their own and we all use them on a daily basis.

WakefieldLibraries

@WFLibraries

@WFLibraries

@WFLibraries #WordFest #MakeWordsCount

bit.ly/WordFestWFD

2578

32 D

esig

ned

and

Prod

uced

by

Wak

efiel

d Co

unci

l, Co

mm

unic

atio

ns 0

9/21

Festival Highlights Not to be missed!

Author events

Throughout the month of October local libraries are being visited by a string of new and established authors who will read from their new books and chat to fans about their work and inspirations.

Libraries

Various dates throughout October

Cinema in the library

Cinema in the Library at Pontefract Library was opened in July 2021 and was funded by a grant from Libraries Connected. The community venue will host free community screenings and will be launching a new reader group ‘The film of the book club’ in October.

Pontefract Library

Various dates

Long Division do Libraries

Join Wakefield’s very own music festival Long Division for a live music performance and follow up music workshops for 14-25 year olds. Connect with professional musicians and hone your song writing skills to celebrate and explore the power of words!

Libraries

Various dates

Toddler rap with Social I Sing

Join us for Toddler Rap and interactive story telling sessions exploring themes of conservation and the environment - all suitable for 1-4 year olds! Help your little one explore words, rhymes and stories in these fun and participatory activities, all eco-themed!

Libraries


The Tiger Who Came to Tea exhibition

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the much-loved classic The Tiger Who Came to Tea, this exhibition features high quality copies of Judith Kerr’s original illustrations from the Seven Stories collection, and promises to bring this delightful book to life for a new generation of families.

Pontefract Library

6 September-7 November 2021

Voices in the Wilderness with Ali Bullivent

A quirky and thought provoking short performance of music, words, and song inspired by books with an environmental themes. Everyone is encouraged to appreciate our natural world and invited to add to the story.

Libraries

Various dates throughout October plus special appearance at WX (former Market Hall) on Tuesday 26 October

The Beauty of Flora with Dreamtime Creative

Discover ‘The Beauty of Flora’ by inspirational Forgotten Woman of Wakefield Eliza Eve Gleadall. This fun, interactive craft and poetry workshop will reflect on the natural beauty of Heath Common to create a modern pamphlet of this 1834 historical text.

Normanton & Sandal Libraries

18-19 October

Hope Travels Podcasts by Storytrails

Hope is a Boggle. A tiny creature from the enchanted place. And this podcast is her travel diary. Listen to Hope Travels and discover her wonderful world of words and story-magic, and the moment Hope discovers The Biggest Human Problem.

Online

Episodes released on various dates throughout October

Hope Returns by StorytrailsJoin StoryTrails for an interactive storytelling adventure, Hope Returns.

Hope the Boggle has enjoyed her adventures in the human world - especially in the libraries. Now it’s time to go home. There’s just one problem, litter is plugging up the magical gateway and Hope needs your help to unplug it.

Libraries

Various dates throughout October plus special appearance at WX (former Market Hall) on Wednesday 27 October

Ruby Flew Too by Topsy Turvy Theatre

Topsy Turvy Theatre proudly presents Ruby Flew Too! based on the delightful book by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Rebecca Harry. Follow one small duckling’s journey to find her feet...all in her own time. Adapted for the stage by Claire Alizon Hills. Music by James Boston.

Libraries


Recycled craft with RenewiCraft something new from something old, join local recycling experts Renewi in a recycled craft session and turn some junk into a gem you can treasure.

Libraries


Changing Places Through Stories by Stride Theatre

A unique workshop for children and their adults. Join us on a journey as Stride Theatre take a popular children’s story and bring it to life in an immersive workshop. Allow your imagination to take over as you play the characters from the stories!

Libraries


Inkonjane: The Lightning Bird by Fettle and Fable Theatre

’Inkonjane - The Lightning Bird’ is a one-person 45 minute show aimed at family audiences. Inkonjane follows the swallow’s migration from South Africa to Yorkshire incorporating both European and South African folklore, rhythm and music along the way. Fettle and Fable Theatre present this newly written story, with music, puppetry and spectacle.

Libraries

Various dates throughout October plus a special appearance at WX (former Market Hall) on Saturday 23 and Monday 25 October

Eco crafts with EcoHub

Make something new from something old, join recycling experts EcoHub in a recycled craft session and turn some junk into a gem you can treasure.

Community centres across the Wakefield district


Once Upon a Time on the Wakefield Way with Certainty of Chance Theatre

Once upon a time on The Wakefield Way is a creative writing and dynamic storytelling workshop for adults taking place across the district. Share your story to be part of 70 distinct stories - one for each mile of the Wakefield Way.

Community centres across the Wakefield district


The Whale by Circo Rum Ba Ba

Witness the spectacle of an 18m long life-size sperm whale, a giant of our oceans, and meet the eccentric marine biologist, Netty Northwest and her friends, the sea creatures and discover their battle to survive in an ocean full of rubbish. They need your help to save the turtle and the whale from the ocean of waste.

WX (former Market Hall)

23-29 October 2021

The Butterfly Effect by Tony Wade

The Butterfly Effect is a mesmerising aerial art installation consisting of thousands of hand-decorated paper butterflies which move in the slightest breeze and is an exploration and celebration of the positive steps everyone can take, individually and collectively, to reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact.


23-30 October 2021

Pivotal by Natalie Bellingham

Pivotal is an interactive art installation which is part of Wakefield Council’s Festival of the Earth. The aim of Pivotal is to playfully acknowledge the relationships between people, and between people and nature; to make us aware of the sounds and natural environment around us, and our impact on those surroundings. Participants are invited to sit on the wooden seats and gently ‘seesaw’. As people interact with the artwork, air pumps are triggered, creating an airflow that pushes up through copper branches of the tree and through a flock of clay bird water whistles.


23-29 October 2021

The Polar Bear (is Dead) by Natalie and Daniele

Have you ever thought about what it means to lose something forever? Natalie and Daniele have made a silly show full of hope, about losing everything, being alone and going to Mars. It’s about all of those things, but essentially, it’s about the climate crisis. The Polar Bear (is Dead) is a new international collaboration between theatre makers Natalie Bellingham (Wakefield, UK) and Daniele Pennati (Milan, Italy), produced by SJ Watkinson (Birmingham, UK). They share a passion for contemporary performance and pies.


26-28 October 2021

Breathing Room by Anna BerryBreathing Room by artist Anna Berry is a kinetic light installation in which a tunnel lined with cones ‘breathes’, creating a strange and otherworldly immersive experience. On the outside the beautiful and ornate mechanism is the focus of attention, whilst inside you travel through a luminous, gently moving tunnel, for an almost psychedelic experience. In association with Unlimited Arts.

WX The Factory (former Market Food Hall)

22-30 October 2021

Stories Spoken, Stories Sung by Ali Bullivent and Jimmy Andrex

Join Jimmy Andrex and Ali Bullivent for our very first WordFest Open Mic event. You are invited to perform and share your own work, or favourite pieces of prose, poetry or song linked to environment!


Sunday 24 October 10am – 1pm

Not So Alone by CoActive Arts

‘Not So Alone’ is an extract of an original play written during lockdown by a group of Wakefield writers with learning disabilities. The piece explores an emerging relationship through the themes of nature and the changing seasons.

The Ridings Shopping Centre

Saturday 2 October

Families Adults Young People

Events for:

The majority of community and library events are free to attend. Please see the festival website for details of how to book your free place as this differs between festival venues.

Documents

About WordFest Make Words Count