Stepping Stones Festival 2013 is over

The 2013 Festival in Brampton is now officially over, but it delivered a rich mixture of a wild Ceilidh dance on Friday evening, four high quality concerts in the festival hall, dancing opportunities of all kinds throughout the week-end, music based workshops at the community centre, an art and crafts exhibition, sale and demonstrations in the Hut, a locally produced food market down town, 6 concerts at the Howard Arms Hotel, Slater’s Funfair rides and two open mic stages.

In addition there was a Roman Re-enactors camp, children’s entertainment including the Maddy Hatter’s Tea Party, and free live music in Pubs and Cafés in town.

Those who attended had a full-on festival experience and Maddy would like to thank most sincerely all those who made it possible: the organisers, The Northern Area Committee of the Cooperative Society, the Parish Council, the Brampton Business Association, the Brampton Economic Partnership, Hadrian’s Wall Trust, other sponsors shown in the programme (JSD Signs, CSS Computers, AW Communications Ltd, Winged Heart, Solway Communications, Stalkers Transport Services, Gibstown Farm, Aardvark PHE, Brennocks Accountants, English Cut, Geltsdale Brewery, C&C Barnett and the Irthing Vale Campsite) the Community Centre staff, Brampton Police, the Carlisle Air Cadet Squadron, stewards, stallholders, artists and comperes.

There remains uncertainty over the future of the Community Centre and until that has been resolved we cannot commit to holding another Stepping Stones event in Brampton in 2014. But our thanks go to those who supported the festival this year and we hope to see you again in the future.

We will be making a modest donation of around £300 to the Air Ambulance due to fees from service providers being waived in favour of an equivalent donation. They were the Howard Arms Hotel for room hire, Gibstown Farm for the straw bales and Jo Powell for the auction of her painting of Maddy at last year’s festival. There were no additional proceeds arising from the festival.

Watch this space for more details over the coming months and do let us know if you would like to be notified when the video compilation is published.

We wish you all a most enjoyable summer and this comes with best wishes from the Festival Organisers

Coming soon to North Cumbria are two great opportunities for music and entertainment:

At Stones Barn singer Maddy Prior has developed a centre of creative expression and excellence, within the heart of the rugged Scottish Borderland. The underfloor heated barn provides a welcoming base to encourage and tempt you to explore and develop your chosen area, whilst enjoying expert tuition, excellent company and good home cooked food. A full list of maddy's traing courses are available here.

A special thanks to all our sponsors who made this years festival bigger and better