Jan Souness
THE first Warrington Festival, which hosted more than 25 events in September, has been declared a huge success by its organisers after it brought more than 20,000 people into the town.
Running for three weeks, the festival celebrated sport, culture and entertainment. It reached its climax with Pixie Lott playing a headline slot at Bank Park and the English Half Marathon, 10K and LiveWire Mile finishing through Warrington’s iconic Golden Gates for the first time.
Highlights during the festival also included a cycle festival at Orford Park, Warrington’s Medieval Market in the town centre, the Walton Hall Country Fayre, Wolf Crawl Challenge and the celebration of 160 years of Warrington Museum.
LiveWire, Warrington Borough Council, Culture Warrington, Warrington Wolves and Contest Sports teamed up to offer the events with the aim of improving people’s wellbeing by giving them the opportunity to get active, have fun and try something new.
The family focused festival was developed by partners who wanted to re-ignite the community spirit created during the Rugby League World Cup. Back in 2013 Warrington was the host town for the Samoan team which brought more than £1 million into the town’s economy and received
fantastic feedback from the Rugby Football League who said Warrington’s activity offer changed the whole tournament.
Warrington Festival was entirely inclusive and offered something for everyone whether they wanted to take part in an event, organise at an event or even volunteer at an event.
Chairman of the festival steering group, Jan Souness, said: “The first ever Warrington Festival has been a huge success and has really brought the whole community together. Thank you to everyone in the town for celebrating the fantastic sport, culture, talent and entertainment the town has to offer with us. Also a big thanks goes to our many partners, the event organisers and sponsors and all the volunteers who have given up their time to help out at the festival’s many events. The town really got behind the festival and it was a pleasure to see families and residents of all ages getting involved.”
Cllr Terry O’Neill, leader of Warrington Borough Council, said: “It was fantastic to see so many families and friends come together to enjoy all of the great events that were part of Warrington Festival. The festival gave our town a real chance to shine as we showcased all the things Warrington is great at and showed everyone how much we’ve grown as a town.”
