Aunty Social Archives - Blackpool Social Club

08 Mar

Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival returns to Blackpool on its 20th Anniversary tour

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsFilmAunty Social, Blackpool Film Festival, Film, Iris Prize, LGBTQ

The 20th anniversary celebrations of the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival will honour lesbian-focused films in this year's tour of 25 towns, including Blackpool.From forbidden kisses to real-life revolution, Blackpool Film Festival and Aunty Social will be welcoming Iris on Tour to Arc Cinema, Blackpool on Wednesday 11 March 2026 for an evening of fabulous LGBTQ+ film from the Cardiff-based film festival. The evening’s screenings will include the 2025 Iris Prize winner, One Day This Kid, directed by Alexander Farah and Best British winner Chris Urch, for his film Blackout, giving audiences outside Cardiff the chance to see award-winning queer…

09 Dec

Art Exhibition at Aunty Social- Introducing Keith Downey

Joe Booth0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, Aunty Social, Blackpool, Exhibition, painting

This week, Aunty Social is proud to introduce the work of local artist, Keith Downey by hosting an exhibition at their Topping Street venue from Thursday 11 to Friday 12 December. Now living in Blackpool, but born in Romney Marsh in Kent, Keith works in the style of the Dutch Masters, using oil paint on canvas. From childhood, Keith was clear he was only ever going to paint still-life or work with animals. Painting won, and he studied Illustration at Medway College of Design in the late 1970s. "From before I can remember, I absolutely loved that style of art…

19 Sep

Aunty makes Small Biz 100

Louise Ashcroft0 CommentsLocal NewsAunty Social, community, Local business, local news, shopping

Blackpool arts organisation Aunty Social has been named as one of the nation’s 100 most impressive small firms by the Small Business Saturday UK campaign, as it kicks off a wider call to encourage public support for small businesses. Aunty Social CIC is a community arts organisation that gives people opportunities to develop their creativity, learn new skills and connect with others through positive arty activities. It was founded by a group of friends looking for fun, social and affordable creative events to attend in their hometown in 2011. In 2022, they opened their town centre premises on Topping Street,…

02 Feb

Interview: Catherine Mugonyi Director of the Winter Gardens Film Festival

Clancy1 CommentFilm, HeritageAunty Social, Black and White Film, Blackpool, Film, film festival, filmmaking, Winter Gardens Film Festival

altB's Clancy Mason caught up with Winter Gardens Film Festival Director, Catherine Mugonyi to find out more about what is happening this weekend: CMa: Tell us a little bit about your background? How did you get to the point where you are now directing a film festival? CMu: I've run a Blackpool-based neighbourhood cinema group called Pop-up Picturehouse for the last 5 years and it's been a fascinating journey. I found out that there are plenty of people living locally who enjoy independent and classic film yet struggle to find places to see it outside of their homes. The group…