Burnley hosts mini cultural Olympiad (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley hosts mini cultural Olympiad

7:00pm Monday 23rd July 2012 in Burnley

A MINI cultural Olympiad saw performers take centre stage in the shadow of Burnley’s industrial landmarks.

Just a few weeks ago The Queen led a stately procession along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to Slater’s Terrace.

Quite what Her Majesty would have made of the rockers and troubadours gracing Sandygate Square last Saturday is anyone’s guess. But the Somewhere_To project, part of the Olympics’ community offering, rolled into East Lancashire to offer musicians, actors, photographers and auteurs the chance to sparkle.

Live acts from Bright Shapes to The Swamp Donkeys, Mungo and Elliott and The Flashlights took their turn on the music stage.

And the likes of the Big Dance Company, Melanie Ash Drama, Shift Youth Theatre and Burnley Youth Theatre’s Burnley Youth Theatre’s repertory company were on hand on the banks.

In the next few days the Burnley company will be travelling to the Edinburgh festival to make its debut, with the thought-provoking drama Three Words, at the city’s Bongo Club.

Nearby the former Neptune pub was converted into a cinema, for one day only, showing short films from across the north-west.

Coun John Harbour, the borough’s leisure and culture cabinet member, said: “It’s a real honour for Burnley to be hosting an official London 2012 festival event, especially after hosting the Olympic torch relay.”

The Somewhere_To initiative is also on the lookout for redundant spaces for youth projects.

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