Festival to support Carlisle City of Culture bid
Last updated at 15:17, Tuesday, 17 November 2009

A one-day festival will take place in Carlisle to show support for its UK City of Culture bid by showcasing the arts and creativity it has to offer.

BITE will also re-open the debate on the city’s cursing stone, which made headlines across the world when it was installed at Tullie House eight years ago.

Organisers want, in advance of the November 21 BITE festival, to re-open the debate on the cursing stone via the social networking site Twitter.

The stone was blamed for modern disasters in the area such as foot and mouth disease, the Rathbones bakery fire in Carlisle and the 2005 floods.

The giant stone at Tullie House, installed in 2001, is inscribed with a curse from a 16th century Archbishop of Glasgow made against the Reivers.

BITE will host events in Carlisle’s developing historic quarter, where the Market Square, Foxes Cafe, Tullie House and Tithe Barn will be among the venues taking part. The vacant Central Methodist Hall on Fisher Street will also play a key role.

A culture panel debate will be held there chaired by Radio Cumbria presenter Gordon Swindlehurst.

There will also be an array of music, dance and live art, visual exhibitions, workshops and digital art.

Freerange Artists, an independent group of artists, are working with the University of Cumbria to host the festival.

The Carlisle Arts Festival, SpeakEasy and Carlisle Artists Hub are supporting the event, sponsored by Carlisle Renaissance.

Hannah Stewart, creative director of Freerange Artists, said: “This is an opportunity to present some of Carlisle’s cultural offer in a concentrated manner, supporting the UK city of culture bid.

“This event aims to engage a wide audience in unique and innovative ways and to present art in a way that people will find entertaining, provocative and accessible.

“We are interested in authenticity and originality, in pulling together the different strands of community and culture in Carlisle and using the 21st to highlight and celebrate them.”

Charles Mitchell, dean of the arts faculty at the University of Cumbria, said: “This event will be a welcome opportunity for the university to both showcase some of the excellent talent within the faculty in Carlisle, and also to work alongside the city's independent creative sector in a collaborative venture.”

Almost all of the events will be free and open to everyone. For information about BITE, look up ‘Harley Quinn’ on Facebook.

Take part in the cursing stone debate at www.twitter.com/cursingstone

Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top]

Vision could melt on the back boiler
Last updated at 15:03, Friday, 13 November 2009

The University of Cumbria’s invitation was: “Bring your dreams.” Sadly a new rider has been added now: “But not just yet.”

All dreamers suffer setbacks from time to time. In deep recession, this university has proved to be no exception.

Hopes for rapid development have had to reined in. Ambitious targets for growth – including a £70m flagship campus and headquarters within five years – will not now be met. Economic downturn has done its worst.

Now it would seem the University of Cumbria will not be able to open its new campus as planned by 2013 and student numbers may reach just over half their original estimates by 2016.

Disappointment is a bitter pill and the aftertaste of this one will be shared across the city and throughout the county.

The university’s growth was to be a key catalyst for Carlisle’s growth and was to improve educational opportunities for young people throughout the region.

Furthermore, the Renaissance backed option for collaboration with the university to provide a large theatre on the new riverside campus, meeting the whole city’s performing arts needs, now looks to have joined all those other hopes and dreams on the shelf marked: “Maybe later.”

The creation of Cumbria’s university took years to achieve.

It was pursued because it was crucial to raising standards and aspirations in an area where the number of young people going into higher education was – and still is –unacceptably low.

The benefits it promised to businesses and the local economy were also drivers.

High ideals failed not for the want of trying nor for lack of quality in their substance. Outside influences conspired against Carlisle’s dreams just before they were realised. And that is bitterly disappointing.

The original vision still exists. But many will wonder how long it can sit on the back burner, before it boils dry.

Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top]

Call for breakdown of costs should Carlisle win culture bid
Published at 05:25, Friday, 06 November 2009

CARLISLE City Council is being urged to consider the cost of backing the bid to make Carlisle the first “UK City of Culture” in 2013.

The Cumberland News revealed last month that official documents show that the winning city must find £10m for publicity and to stage events.

Michael Boaden, leader of the city council’s Labour group, is worried that the council could be landed with a huge bill.

He has tabled a motion, to be debated by councillors on Tuesday, calling for a “detailed report” on the costs.

Mr Boaden said: “There is an expectation that the city which is awarded City of Culture status will invest millions in developing and staging events.

“We are going into this contest without any clear idea of what the bill might be.

“My concern is that it is unaffordable, given that we are cutting jobs and having serious discussions about services because of the funding situation.”

Carlisle Renaissance is behind the City of Culture bid. The city council’s executive has backed the idea in principle.

The two organisations are working with the University of Cumbria and other groups to table a bid by the December 11 deadline.

A short list will be published in January and the winner announced at Easter.

Council leader Mike Mitchelson said the authority would not be bankrolling events if the Carlisle bid succeeds.

He said: “Any bid that goes in will have to have the detail as to how it will be funded.

“I want to kill the misleading idea that the council will be putting £10m in.

“It’s not about how much we invest, it’s about what Carlisle can gain in investment from going through this process.”

Carlisle faces competition from potentially 27 locations for City of Culture status.

Contenders include Chester, Brighton, County Durham, Oxford and Manchester. Bath has withdrawn already because of concerns about the cost.

The title will be conferred every four years and the winner will host high-profile events such as the Turner Prize, The Brit Awards and BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

The chosen city is expected to benefit from a boom in tourism but will not receive any money directly from the Government.

Cumbria County Council has distanced itself from Carlisle’s City of Culture bid, describing it as a “distraction”.

Taken from The News & Star / [Link] / [Back to top]