Luminate Lantern & Light Festival 2016

Wow, what a wonderful festival we had last Saturday. 

Friends of Derby Arboretum, Spiral Arts, Rotary Club of Derby and Derby City Council Parks hosted a magical Lantern Festival on the historic Derby Arboretum as part of its community celebrations.

They were celebrating the park in its anniversary year of being open to the public for 175 years.  They invited the local community and people of Derby to come along and they had a great turnout of over 150 people joining the Lantern event.

The event started at 5pm with local families and friends gathering at the Orangery in the Arboretum. Lanterns made from willow and tissue paper, were distributed to everyone and they stepped out into the night air to watch the first dance from the Morris Team ‘Chip off the Old’.

The procession began towards the Boar statue accompanied by magical music from violinist, Helen Hitchcock together with ‘Chip off the Old’ Musicians. The procession trail wound its way down the paths towards the fountain which was covered by twinkling tealight candles. The Morris team danced their way around the park, towards the Community Garden and then led us back to the Orangery. The crowd were pleased to warm up with hot soup and rolls and more magical music and dancing. The lanterns made a beautiful display outside of the Orangery building, they will remain on display in the Orangery until Friday 11^th November.

‘Such a lovely event, the lanterns looked beautiful, we really enjoyed taking part’ Lesley Marshall ‘Chip off the Old’ Morris dancer.

‘We were very pleased with the success of the event, the whole community got involved, and it was lovely to see all ages joining in. It was a great way to celebrate 5^th November. I hope this event becomes an annual celebration bringing the community together. The Friends of Derby Arboretum are working hard to make the park a welcoming, inviting place to enjoy and meet.’ Jenny Anthony, Creative Director Spiral Arts

Lantern making

We were busy making lanterns at St James Juniors, at Madeley Youth Centre as well as drop in sessions in the park.
They all made our Luminate lantern festival look wonderful.

alter~KNIT~ive @ QUAD

We spent 3 weeks working with knitters and crafters to create pieces for our yarn bomb around QUAD. Over 30 people attended our drop-in sessions at Grove Lodge and at the QUAD cafe. The work will be displayed until 21 October, to accompany the showing of the film 'Yarn'.

Luminate Lantern & Light Festival 2016

On Saturday 5 November 2016 5pm - 8pm, Friends of Derby Arboretum, Spiral Arts, Rotary Club of Derby and Derby City Council Parks are hosting a Lantern Festival on the historic Derby Arboretum as part of its community celebrations.

We are celebrating the park in its anniversary year of being open to the public for 175 years.  We are inviting the local communities and people of Derby to come along and join us for this wonderful evening Lantern event.

The event will start around 5pm with people gathering at the Orangery in the Arboretum. There will be a simple lantern activity for people to take part in while everyone gathers for the procession. We have a Morris Dance performance from ‘Chip off the Old’ starting off the celebrations at the Orangery.

The procession will begin at 5.40pm leaving the Orangery and processing around the park accompanied by magical music from violinist, Helen Hitchcock and a Morris dance performance at the fountain. Weather permitting, there will be illuminations displayed in the trees around the park and the fountain. We will return to the Orangery to warm up with hot soup and rolls and more magical music and dancing. Grove Lodge and the Orangery building will be decorated with lights and lanterns.

The lanterns will be on display in the Orangery until Friday 11^th November.

If you would like to make a lantern see our 'park workshops' page for details of our free lantern making workshops in half term.

Arts and Crafts with GoldsQUAD

We have had a busy few months with the GoldsQUAD group at QUAD, paper-making, marbling, bookmaking, dreamcatchers and knitting.

Lark in the Park - A wonderful community celebration

On Sunday 21 August, we held a summer celebration in the Derby Arboretum. We had over 25 stalls with various activities and items to buy, musical bands in the music tent and a free refreshments tent.
We were funded by the Health Lottery, Healthcalm through the People's Health Trust.

Derby Green Spaces in WW1 Launch Party

We were commissioned by History Professor Paul Elliott, from the University of Derby to partner with him on a research project of how Derby Parks and green spaces were used during World War One. 
We worked with a team of researchers to gather the information which we used to create a large textile banner and information banners. We worked with members of a local refugee group, the GoldsQUAD group and held drop in sessions over the summer to design and sew the textile banner.
The banner was exhibited in the Orangery in Derby Arboretum as part of the 'Lark in the Park' celebrations.
The exhibition was opened by Councillor Jangir Khan, and speeches were given by Professor Paul, history student Stuart Bagley and Jenny and Maureen from Spiral Arts.
The banners were exhibited for 2 weeks in the Orangery. We hope to have further displays of the banners in the next few months.

Summer Sessions @ The Orangery

We worked with families over the summer on birds, masks and wooden houses in the Orangery. We had a busy time!

Friends of Derby Arboretum talk to Andy Potter at Radio Derby

The Friends of Derby Arboretum chatted to Andy Potter of Radio Derby in the Orangery at the park.
They told Andy their plans for the group and how local people could get involved.

'Lark in the Park' @ Derby Arboretum

Come along and enjoy the summer celebration

'Lark in the Park' at the Derby Arboretum

Sunday 21 August 12 noon til 4pm

Stalls, activities, music performances, games, refreshments, cakes, owls, paper rockets, RSPB, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, storytelling, sports, Derbyshire Fire Service, Photography competition, WW1 Green Spaces Exhibition and more...

Hope to see you there

Summer Postcards @ Buxton Museum

We worked with families at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery at the start of the summer. 
We created postcards using collaged magazines and posted them in a giant postbox.

Florence @ The Royal Hospital

In July we worked at The Derby Royal Hospital to create a well dressing of 'The Lady with the Lamp'. We worked in the Kings Treatment Centre and engaged with visitors and patients to complete the design. The well dressing was displayed in one of the many courtyards for a week.
We enjoyed working in this new environment and we are hoping to work there again.

Derby Well Dressing 2016

This year's trail was part of our 'Derby Green Spaces during World War One' project and all the well dressings were based on the research we had found. 
We exhibited the 10 well dressings around the city centre venues and also in the Derby Arboretum Park. 
We worked with 5 schools, community groups as well as many visitors some from as far away as Australia.