UNMUTE Suicide Prevention festival hosted by Darwen men's mental health group

UNMUTE festival will be held on Saturday, September 3, a day before Suicide Prevention week begins.

The event will run over two venues, Sunbird Records and Number 39 Bar, with live acts, stalls and a talented line-up of DJs.

Si Donnelly, 48, started the TALK Ourselves WELL Man Supportive Collective group one year ago in an aim to address the issue of multiple male suicides and men suffering in silence.

The group meets around a campfire every week for chats and support, but this will be the very first major event TALK Ourselves WELL will be hosting.

The festival at Sunbird Records on The Circus, Darwen will have a variety of different performances and sets to fill the evening.

The afternoon will kick off with Darwen Community Drum Circle where attendees can take part in a unified performance of rhythmic drumming at 3pm.

After that, a range of bands from will be performing from 5.30pm and the night will go on until 3am so bring some comfy dancing shoes!

At Number 39 Bar, located on Bridge Street in Darwen, a mixture of disco, funk and soul, and jazz will entertain festival guests on the night.

The event will begin slightly later than the one at Sunbird Records, starting at 5pm and is expected to end at 12.30am.

Tickets for Sunbird Records cost £5 before 7pm and £10 after 8pm and tickets are a suggested donation for Number 39 Bar.

Darwen has experienced significant numbers of avoidable male deaths through suicide in recent years and Suicide Prevention is something that is close to their hearts.

Mr Donnelly said: “The event is aimed at engaging the whole community with the power of music and providing opportunity for people to have open conversations around suicide and mental health.

“Suicide is preventable and our aim is to raise funds so that we can continue with our vital community work in promoting positive mental health and wellbeing in our local communities.

“UNMUTE is our way of saying let's make some noise for Suicide Prevention and allowing people to talk openly and freely about the life challenges and experiences that we may encounter along our life journeys."

There will be stalls such as Realign Futures, which are at the forefront of suicide prevention and awareness training within the borough, Shine Coaching who do work around anger management, and The Woods Co-op which promote health and alternative therapies.

The Sanguine Writing House which is one of the UK leading providers of online mystery and strategy games along with team training, mental health awareness and mental health first aid courses will also be at the festival.

The event is raising funds for the vital organization to ensure continued running of the sessions as the group doesn’t receive any funding, so every penny raised counts.

You can find out more about TALK Ourselves WELL on the group's Facebook page.