We have a family ticket up for grabs to see some of the most spellbinding outdoor arts and performance in the UK at a special weekend event – A Day At The Lake – at Rudyard Lake in May.
‘A Day at the Lake’ is an ambitious, large-scale outdoor experience that’s taking place at Rudyard Lake on 30th April and the 1st and 2nd May to mark the first Staffordshire Day. For one weekend only, Rudyard Lake will be reimagined as it was in the late 1800s as a destination for thousands of day trippers.
Wild Rumpus, producers of the award-winning Just So Festival, are the team behind the special weekend.
A Day At The Lake will welcome an audience of 15, 000 over the three days to watch some of the most spellbinding outdoor arts and performance in the UK today. A series of spectaculars on the lake will include a recreation of Carlos Trower’s daring tightrope walk by Chris Bull, high-wire walker otherwise known as ‘Bullzini’ of the Bullzini family (pictured above).
Events on the shore will include outdoor theatre, literary events, storytelling, orchestras and dance from regional, national and international artists, authors and performers. Audiences can enjoy a reimagined day at the lake on rowing boats, walks and steam trains while enjoying world-class outdoor arts.
There will also be a floating stage on the lake, mermaids, swingboats and helter skelter and a vintage arts and crafts market too.
Visit the Day at the Lake website to find out more.
A Day At The Lake will be the first event of this scale at Rudyard Lake for over a century and marks the first Staffordshire Day on 1st May 2016 – a day of celebration of the heritage of Staffordshire to mark 1000 years since the county was established.
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Competition
To be in with a chance of winning a family ticket to A Day at the Lake for either Friday 30th April, Saturday 1st May or Sunday 2nd May, send your answer to this question…
Which famous author was named Rudyard after his parents met at the Staffordshire beauty spot?
… to competitions@alittlebitofstone.com by the end of 17th February 2016.
The family ticket is for two adults and up to four children. Please include your name, address and contact number in the email.
If you enter, your email address will be added to the Wild Rumpus mailing list but will not be shared with anyone else.
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[box type=”info” ]Rudyard Lake is a Staffordshire beauty spot with an amazing past as one of the early examples of mass tourism in the UK. Known as “the Blackpool of the Potteries” the two-and-a-half-mile-long lake is situated near Leek on the Staffordshire-Cheshire border. Designed by engineer John Rennie, work started in 1797 with completion three years later to supply water for the expanding canal system, a vital artery for the Industrial Revolution.
It still supplies this water today under the management of the Canal & River Trust. The arrival of the North Staffordshire Railway in 1849 and excursion trains from Manchester and the Potteries led to it becoming one of the most popular tourist destinations of the time.
Up to 20, 000 people a day would visit to watch cutting-edge spectacles and incredible feats including Captain Webb who hosted a “Grand Aquatic Fete” in 1877 to demonstrate his prowess in being the first person to swim the Channel. And Carlos Trower (The African Blondin), a celebrated tightrope walker who walked across the lake a hundred feet above the water in 1864 and 1878, drawing huge crowds 30 years after the abolition of slavery in the UK.
Visitors to the lake included John Lockwood Kipling and Alice Macdonald who named their son Rudyard Kipling after the beauty spot where they first met.[/box]
[box type=”shadow” ]Sarah Bird and Rowan Hoban, directors of organisers Wild Rumpus, said: “From the first time we saw Rudyard Lake and heard the glorious stories that surround it we became enraptured with the idea of recreating some of those magical spectacular events that used to take place here. We hope that the audience get as swept up in the experience and the romance of the Lake as we have been.”[/box]
[box type=”shadow” ]James Berresford, chief executive of VisitEngland, added: “I am delighted that this large-scale outdoor event is taking place at Rudyard Lake in the spring. Undoubtedly attracting additional visitors and providing a welcome boost to the local visitor economy, the experience will be a cause for celebration for the wonderful heritage of Staffordshire, marking the inaugural Staffordshire Day.”[/box]
A Day At The Lake is delivered in partnership with The Rudyard Lake Trust, The Rudyard Lake League Of Friends, The Canal & River Trust, Staffordshire County Council and Enjoy Staffordshire.
