Organisers pulled out all the stops for a vibrant and diverse Batley Festival.
The one day event on Saturday took place at key venues across the town, including the marketplace, library, Batley Memorial Gardens and Batley Town Hall.
Stalls lined the market place amid colourful characters on stilts and others in period dress.
There was plate spinning, drum playing, and even a chance to get creative with mosaic making.
And of course no arts festival would be complete without a giant cow.
But if the buzz of the event became too much, perhaps for young visitors, there was chance to kick back and relax in hammocks in memorial gardens.
The festival was established in 2011 and is solely organised by volunteers as a result of an ongoing collaboration between Dewsbury based arts project, Creative Scene, and the Batley Festival Committee.
A ‘Best of Batley’ show was hosted at the Town Hall showcasing the talents of Kirklees Music School, Batley Community Choir and the West Yorkshire Drama Academy.
But arguably the highlight of the festival was an out-door performance in the town’s Memorial Gardens, known as the ‘Batley Picture Show’.
The night’s sky was illuminated with bright pink mist as a dazzling aerial performance combining film, music, live theatre, and pyrotechnics and told the story of Batley’s manufacturing, sporting and cultural heritage over the last 100 years.
It was produced by international outdoor events company, Periplum.
Rebecca Legg, festival director at Creative Scene said: “Over the last five years the festival has provided an opportunity to celebrate all that is great about Batley, and as a wholly volunteer-led event, it has enabled local people to get involved in either creating the performances or delivering the festival logistics.
“We asked local people and businesses to submit archive footage of Batley over the years to help us stage the show-stopping Batley Picture Show, and we have received an overwhelming response from organisations including Fox’s Biscuits and Yorkshire Film Archive.”
