community Archives - Blackpool Social Club

12 Aug

Seaside Shuffle: local writers pen Blackpool anthology

Linda Hampton0 CommentsLiterature & Spoken Wordauthors, Blackpool, blackpool art scene, books, community, heritage, literature, memoir, Place, poetry, publication, Stories, tea amantes, writers

Local author Linda Hampton (Sailing To The Moon), hosted the launch of a unique collection of writings last week – Seaside Shuffle. As a contributing writer to the collection, she tells Blackpool Social Club readers how work from local writers manifested into a new publication It was a packed house at Tea Amantes Community Arts on Albert Road in Blackpool, as many of the 37 Blackpool-based-or-connected writers, and friends, piled into to celebrate the culmination of nearly a year’s work, the publication of the anthology Seaside Shuffle - an eclectic mix of writing styles, and points of view all summoning…

26 Jun

Blackpool Mermaid Makes Waves at Winter Gardens

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performancecommunity, community theatre, performance, Theatre

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] The Old Electric proudly presents Memoirs of a Blackpool Mermaid, a mesmerising new production that brings to life powerful stories inspired by Blackpool. This play intertwines forgotten folklore with vivid tales from the town’s local history, illuminating Blackpool’s unique heritage while inviting audiences to reflect on whether anything truly changes. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=""]Memoirs of a Blackpool Mermaid is performed by The Electric Sunshine Project’s Community Theatre Company; Th’ESPs. An ever-evolving group of passionate and skilled local creatives, some of whom have been working together since 2016. Uniquely this company has also written, devised, choreographed and created the musical score,…

15 Mar

Join New Langdale Photographers for a year long project in Hawes Side

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsOpportunitiescommunity, Hawes Side, photography

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="52569" img_size="medium" add_caption="yes" css=""][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text css=""] Get ready for an exciting photographic adventure! From now until 2026, the New Langdale Photographers, an exceptional group of photographers with diverse needs, will partner with Blackpool-based photographer Claire Griffiths. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=""]This collaboration explores how creativity can cultivate meaningful shared experiences, contributing to a lasting legacy. The project seeks to uncover the hidden gems of the Hawes Side area of Marton through a year-long initiative.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] Previously, the New Langdale Photographers undertook an extensive project highlighting the contributions of Blackpool Borough Architect J.C. Robinson, who designed 30 notable buildings in the area,…

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,…

03 Oct

Theatre Review: Martha Pailing – Chat Shit, Get Hit

Mully0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceArt, artist, blackpool art scene, community, performance, the old electric

The Blackpool-born performance artist's new show will shock and delight you, but no one will leave without realising something about themselves. Full disclosure: watching Martha Pailing’s latest work-in-progress show Chat Shit, Get Hit will be a very different experience if you’re a woman than it was for me as a man. If you are a woman going to see this startling work of spoken word and performance art, I imagine you might be wearily familiar with the ideas she explores, from the bubbling undercurrent of female rage to the reasons this rage rears its head. But if you’re a man,…

03 Sep

Gallery: Ralphfest day one

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsLocal Newscommunity, skate, skateboarding

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Ralphfest23 A festival of art and skateboarding is popping up in various locations this weekend. Claire Griffiths captured the days events at Park View in Lytham on Saturday. The festival continues at Stanley Park on Sunday 4th September 2023. “Overall the plan is to put lots of smiles on faces,” said Neil Roberts, father of the late Ralph Roberts who sadly passed away in January 2021, of a rare condition called Sarcoidosis that was not diagnosed until post-mortem. Roberts set up LiveLikeRalph in his son’s name, a charitable organisation that aims to provide skateboards and any necessary equipment to…

23 Jul

Review: Women Rockin’ Harmony Choir Summer Concert

Linda Hampton0 CommentsMusic & GigsBlackpool, choir, community, community groups, concert, entertainment, live music, Music, performance, singing

The Urban Arts Studio in St Annes burst into life in July when a choir of ladies with a big rockin’ attitude sung their way through an appealing menu of some of the most iconic rock songs by female artists. It was a sold-out house at this cosy St Annes venue for the first full-length concert by the Women Rockin’ Harmony Choir, based in Bispham. Experienced choir director Tanya Laurence has been putting this group of singing women through their paces since she formed the choir in February 2022. For all us would-be rock chicks the programme was like a…

31 Mar

Exhibition: New Langdale Photographers

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionscommunity, photography, socially engaged

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The portrayal of Blackpool's tower, illuminations, and piers is well documented. But what do we discover if we explore a place set back from the prom? Along with a group of photographers who assemble every week at a community centre in Hawes Side, I have discovered how Blackpool could be seen in an alternative way. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What do we think about, when we think about creativity? Is it useful, what does it communicate? As children, perhaps the first things we do could be described as creative, dancing as a way to move and mark making to learn to write. Using…

04 Feb

Boldly exploring futuristic and heritage film at the Winter Gardens Film Festival this February

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsFilm, HeritageBlackpool, community, entertainment, Film, film festival, filmmaking, heritage, Lancashire, performance, Vintage Film, Winter Gardens Film Festival

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Blackpool's very own film festival is back, having announced a programme of screenings, talks and workshops full of futuristic film and vintage delights. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Following last year's comeback event, The Winter Gardens Film Festival returns to the iconic venue from the 11th to 12th February 2023 and will include its usual variety of classic and contemporary film. Main screenings will take place in the wonderful Opera House at the Winter Gardens. Built in 1939 as a cine-variety theatre, combining a super cinema with a world class stage for theatrical performance, the venue's capacity of just under 3000 makes it the…

26 Oct

Vitamin Sea

Jill Reidy1 CommentEnvironment and Naturecommunity, wild swimming

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Photographer Jill Reidy always loved capturing the sea. Now it's captured her. She writes about how running into the waves naked on a whim led her to become an unlikely dipper My friends and family will tell you that the words, ‘Jill’ and ‘water’ are rarely to be heard in the same sentence. Showers, of course, are fine, a necessary daily activity - but only with the water hot and pounding, and Badedas in the shower gel dispenser. Baths are OK so long as someone runs them and fills the room with candles and ideally a Cadbury’s Flake (it’s…