With professional artists sharing the bill alongside local performers, Fleetwood Moves returns to Marine Hall this weekend as part of a growing wave of ambitious, arts-led free events across Wyre.
For anyone who thinks free local family events means bouncy castles and burger vans, Fleetwood Moves is here to challenge expectations.
The free music and dance festival lands at Marine Hall and Gardens on 4 July as part of a noticeably different approach to public events across Wyre. Alongside recent events such as the Big Green Get Together and the Family Fun Day at Jean Stansfield Park in Poulton – both of which featured professional performers and festival-style arts programming – there’s a growing sense that local audiences are being offered something more ambitious.
Fleetwood Moves began as a community dance festival and remains rooted in participation and local involvement. But the programme also reflects wider ambitions. What started as a grassroots event increasingly feels like the kind of family arts festival that comes with a hefty ticket price rather than a free day out on the Fylde Coast.
Taking over Marine Hall and its gardens on Saturday, the festival brings together local groups, professional artists and visiting companies from across the north. Among them are Glasgow’s award-winning inclusive dance company Indepen-dance, Leeds-based Ascendance, Fleetwood Fusion, Harmony and Health Fleetwood and Blackpool’s Rock Academy.
Expect contemporary dance alongside community performances, with opportunities to participate as well as sit back and watch. Fleetwood Moves removes barriers to participation in the arts in a refreshingly straightforward way – bringing high-quality work into a public space for free.
The festival is produced by Lancashire-based LPM Dance, which has been working in Fleetwood since 2021, developing projects that connect creativity, health and wellbeing. Their programme includes weekly classes for adults with and without learning and physical disabilities, sessions for people living with neurological conditions, one-off workshops, dance in education, and the Fleetwood Moves Festival which has become a focal point for that work, bringing together professional artists, community groups and local residents in a celebration of dance and movement.
The organisers’ long-term ambition is for Fleetwood Moves to become a recognised fixture on the North West cultural calendar, creating a space where artists from the local area and beyond can share work alongside local communities.
Helen Gould, co-founder of LPM Dance, said: “Since beginning our work in Fleetwood in 2021, we’ve seen first-hand how Fleetwood Moves has the potential to grow into a major cultural event for the North West. The diversity of people involved – from professional artists to families and local residents – has been incredibly inspiring.
“Fleetwood Moves is about building on that momentum, deepening community involvement and raising artistic ambition while keeping the festival fully accessible to all.”
Working with Healthier Fleetwood, this year’s festival continues to champion dance as an activity that supports wellbeing, connection and participation, bringing together performers and audiences from across Lancashire while creating opportunities for people with and without disabilities to take part.
