Our Year is a year-long programme of spectacles, unique festivals, major events and community-led activities that will celebrate all that the Wakefield district has to offer from art, heritage, sport and music to food and drink.
And in February, there’s something for everyone, whether it’s visiting the popular Rhubarb Festival, a bike ride at Nostell or learning all about food through time in Pontefract.
Some events need booking – visit www.experiencewakefield.co.uk to find out more.
1. Breaking the mould at The Cluntergate Centre
When: February 10-11. You’ve heard of famous Castleford sculptor Henry Moore and fellow artists Albert Wainwright and Arthur Dalby. Yet have you heard of the inspirational woman behind them all? Their teacher Alice Gostick. For the first time, her story takes centre stage in an exciting new play from Empath Action CIC about her life, her convention-breaking pottery classes, and her brilliant, boundary-breaking students. This event was supported with a Culture Grant by Wakefield Council. Visit www.experiencewakefield.co.uk for more information. Photo: Wakefield Council
2. Kirstie Williams: Mills in Colour at The Art House
When: Thursday, January 25 to Saturday, April 13. The Art House presents Mills in Colour, a new exhibition by local textile artist and printmaker Kirstie Williams. The exhibition explores Wakefield’s rich textile history through the use of natural dyes and printing pastes. Want to get involved? Join Kirstie Williams in a drop in workshop on February 17. This workshop is a family friendly creative session with the opportunity to paint your own patterns onto cloth using natural plant-based inks and dyes, whilst taking inspiration from the surroundings of the Mills in Colour textiles exhibition. The Mills in Colour project was supported with a Culture Grant by Wakefield Council as part of Our Year – Wakefield District 2024. Visit www.experiencewakefield.co.uk. Photo: Wakefield Council
3. Rhubarb Festival
When: February 16-18. Wakefield’s celebration of its most famous vegetable, the Rhubarb Festival, returns to paint the city pink for three days. The all-important food and drink market returns with over 50 chalets where you can sample and purchase local and regional delights. Families will love the variety of workshops, entertainment and fringe activity from partners. Expect a whole new programme of chef demos and expand your culinary skills and even book a ticket to the Rhu-Bar Comedy Night. Photo: Wakefield Council
4. Karen Wright talk
When: February 16 at 4.30pm. Karen Wright takes us on her journey from growing up in Featherstone and Pontefract to moving to Wakefield, her Great British Bake Off Experience and becoming an author, with all the many twists of fate in between. She will talk about her philosophy on life and how she makes things happen! This talk is the first of many during 2024 as Our Year hosts an aspirational series of talks and events around the Wakefield district as part of Key to the North. Photo: Wakefield Council