Burnley Canal Festival – Future Plans

With no possibility of a Burnley Canal Festival on the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend, the BCF partners want to give Festival followers an update on plans for the future.

Last year, while building work took over the Festival’s main site, organisers were able to compensate with a ‘Meanwhile’ series of towpath events through the autumn. Current circumstances, however, make this option much more difficult for autumn 2020.

So organisers Mid Pennine Arts and partners want to make clear that there are no plans for any ‘Meanwhile on the Towpath’ events for this September/October. The continuing local lockdowns, and uncertainty over conditions in the near future, mean that the safety and wellbeing of participants and public must take priority. Instead, they are starting now to plan for the full return of the Festival proper in August 2021.

Nick Hunt, Creative Director of lead partner Mid Pennine Arts, said: ‘The Festival is a hugely popular, celebration event and we know how much it is valued by local businesses, local families and visitors to Burnley alike. In recent years we have seen up to 12,000 people over the weekend, and we are committed to bringing those brilliant traffic jams back to Burnley’s lovely towpath.

Next year, we will be celebrating the major new developments at our main site, Sandygate Square, with our partners UCLan showing off their expanding university provision around Victoria Mill. There will also be new developments taking shape around Canal & River Trust’s marina site at Finsley Gate.

We are delighted too that our partners Super Slow Way have confirmed their support for the next two years of the Festival. There is so much to look forward to, so we’re getting started early to do everything we can to make Burnley Canal Festival 2021 the best it can be.’

Conditions permitting, the next Burnley Canal Festival will take place on 28 and 29 August 2021.