North Devon Direct Summer 2009

North Devon Festival 2009

The North Devon Festival is back this summer for its 11th year. Once again, North Devon Council is proud to be the main funder of this spectacular event.



The North Devon Festival is a celebration of all that the region has to offer. It started on Saturday 23 May and runs straight through until Monday 29 June with many diverse events based around music, art, sport, education, the local community, comedy, dance, theatre, food, and the natural environment.

The line-up for 2009 includes famous faces Seth Lakeman, Sir James Galway, Mark Thomas, Adrian Edmondson and Paddy Ashdown. Other highlights of the festival include the smash hit West End musical Cabaret, the all new Colourscape experience, special Darwin 200 events, International Street Theatre, the return of GoldCoast Oceanfest with headliner Jason Mraz, Appledore Visual Arts Festival, Barnstaple Fringe, Ilfracombe Victorian Celebrations, LLAMA Music Festival with Badly Drawn Boy headlining, Art Trek, Lapstock, Fringe Theatrefest, and several Biosphere events celebrating the unique environment of the area.



Last year the festival celebrated its 10th birthday in style, enjoying its most successful year to date and was rated as one of the top five events in the country by The Times. The team behind it all aim to build on the festival’s reputation even more this year. Alan Dodd, Festival Director says: “The festival is designed to celebrate and show off all the region has to offer and is a really positive way to let people across the country know what goes on here outside the school holidays.”

Over the last 11 years, the North Devon Festival has attracted nearly a million people to participate in events, 40% of whom came from outside the region. This in turn has helped develop the tourism of the area and, in the last five years alone, the festival has generated an incredible £48 million for the economy of North Devon.



Several of the events are inspired by the unique environment of the area, recognised across the world for its landscapes, wildlife and culture. The dramatic North Devon coast is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and sits next to the sweeping moorlands of Exmoor National Park. Both of these areas and North Devon as a whole are included in the UK’s first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

The festival unites the whole of North Devon and depends on the talent and initiative of the local people who give up their time to organise and run many of the events. It’s this variety of community involvement mixed with the top quality arts and entertainment, the familiar and eagerly anticipated blockbuster events, and the spectacular setting that makes the festival so special.

The festival 2009 brochure, detailing all the events, is available now!

Get yours from the Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple, the Landmark Theatre in
Ilfracombe and selected outlets across the region. For further information visit
www.northdevonfestival.org or call 01271 32 42 42.

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How to contact us

Editorial queries should be directed to:

Claire Holm
North Devon Council
Civic Centre
Barnstaple
Devon
EX31 1EA

Phone: 01271 388239
Email: claire.holm@northdevon.gov.uk

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