LA LUNE : A town filled with starlight - Macclesfield
Christ Church, Macclesfield, Cheshire
It is not in the stars to fulfil our destiny but in ourselves …. Shakespeare
Wild Rumpus, producers of the award-winning Just So Festival are proud to announce La Lune, a major family event commissioned by Barnaby Festival which spans the town of Macclesfield, over eight days in June.Visitors to Barnaby Festival will step into a curious reality as the spellbinding story of La Lune unfolds and be challenged to save the town of Macclesfield by coming together and filling the town with starlight. Tickets are on sale from Monday 15 February with a limited amount of early bird tickets at a specially discounted price of £6 for Macclesfield residents.
Follow the intriguing story of an astronomer who has brought the stars and the moon down to earth. For eight days Macclesfield is full of starlight, but when he realises that he can’t send them back, residents and visitorswill have to work together to send them back into the sky where they belong.Take part in The Astronomer’s Storyan immersive theatrical adventure in Christ Church, visit a most unusual Observatory on the Christ Church Lawns, keep your eyes peeled each evening at dusk for a mysterious Roving Moon, take part in the amazing constellation of stars at the Carnival Parade and gather at the spectacular culmination of the Moon Rising.
Rowan Hoban, Director of Wild Rumpus says, “We are thrilled to be telling the incredible story of La Lune in Macclesfield at Barnaby Festival in June. We’re asking the people of Macclesfield to fill our town with stars and to gather together for some beautiful and incredible moments.Look out for curious happenings in schools in the build up to the festival and stars and moons appearing just everywhere. Grab your cameras, phones, notebooks and sketchbooks. Capture La Lune as it takes place. If we want to save Macclesfield we need to tell the world our story and make sure it lives on long past June. Macclesfield are you ready?”
Karl Wallace, Festival Director of Barnaby says “This year our theme is ‘space’ in all its manifestations and we are delighted that Wild Rumpus, a company respected for the calibre and vision of its work has agreed to produce La Lune for us. They have risen to the challenge and there will be lots for people to get involved in. It is a project that is especially for Macclesfield made with and for our community. There is even a special discount for those that live in Macclesfield too.”
Events
The Astronomer’s Story
Saturday 18th June: 10/11.30/14.00/ 15.30/17.00/18.30
Sunday 19th June: 10/11.30/14.00/ 15.30/16.00/18.30 £8, £6 (early bird special for local residents SK10 & SK11 postcodes) tickets at www.lalune.org.uk
Christ Church, Macclesfield SK11 6EG
To delve more deeply into the story of La Lune, to find out why we have to fill the town with stars, and what has happened that has placed Macclesfield in such peril, step into The Astronomer’s Story. This incredible immersive theatrical family adventure will take you inside the mind of the astronomer. Secrets will be uncovered, friends made and lost, and we’ll face the greatest challenge of our lives in the beautifulsetting of Christ Church.The Astronomer’s Story is a 45 minute adventure suitable for a family audience produced in collaboration with immersive theatre specialists LAS Theatre.
The Observatory
Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 June 10am – 9pm, Christ Church lawns. FREE
Take a trip to the curious Observatory on the first weekend of Barnaby Festival. The Christ Church lawns will be transformed into a family event in true Wild Rumpus style with tents filled with music, film, science and stars.Lie back on the grass and enjoy some gorgeous street food. Encounter ridiculous and hands-on science and the glorious eduPOP science band Being 747.Hear from leading children’s authors Kiran Millwood-Hargreaves (Girl of Ink & Stars), Ben Newman (Astrocat) and Abi Elphinstone (Dreamsnatchers) and enjoy a pop-up planetarium, star-making, classical music, storytelling, and space and star themed family films as the sun begins to set.
Follow the Roving Moon
Saturday 18 – Saturday 25 June, mystery locations, Macclesfield town centre, dusk. FREE
On the 18th June, a beautiful moon will appear on the rooftops of Macclesfield. Before dusk falls, on each night of La Lune, it will mysteriously move to a new location. Follow the roving moon and tell us each evening where you find it. Tweet or instagram the moon when you find it, using the hashtags #lalune, #macclesfieldmoonand#barnabyfestival.All sketches, photographs, videos, stories and poems documenting the Roving Moon will be gathered on the La Lune website, so that the whole world can hear of the week when the moon came down in Macclesfield.
Gather at The Moon Rising
Saturday 25 June 8.45pm, Christ Church, Macclesfield. FREE
The spectacular culmination of La Lune. To save the town and make sure that the moon can rise, gather at Christ Church on 25th June. Bring your friends, bring your families, bring your stars. Our astronomer may return, bringing with him amazing sights to behold – but only if the whole town gathers. Stay up past bedtime, just this once, because beautiful and incredible things can happen as the summer sun sets. Witness a once in a lifetime phenomenon and celebrate us filling the town with stars.
Stars, Stars, Stars!
Constellation Challenge
For one week in June, fill our town with stars. We want to see stars shining from your windows, glinting from your garden hedges. From taxis to bus stops, school gates to garden sheds, adorn our town. Stars made from every material – visit www.lalune.org.uk for ideas.
The Barnaby Carnival Parade, Saturday 18 June. FREE
To get involved head to Macclesfield Community Artspace2nd Floor, The Arsenal, Sutton Mill, Heapy Street SK11 7JB on Tuesdays 12 – 9pm.
Join in The BarnabyCarnival Parade, the centrepiece community event of Barnaby Festival. John Hartshorn, carnival director for Macclesfield Barnaby Festival 2016 says: “We want the parade and the town of Macclesfield to be shimmering with stars – any size, colour, material or quantity, we just want stars! So, whether you’re a community group, individual or crafty society, put your skills to the test and help create Macclesfield’s very own constellation!” Get involved in Barnaby’s biggest, brightest and boldest parade yet.Find out more at www.barnabyfestival.org.uk.
START THE ADVENTURE NOW
For further information and tickets for The Astronomer’s Story visit http://www.lalune.org.uk/ or http://barnabyfestival.org.uk/