What’s on: Illuminating York Festival
Wed 28 – Sat 31 Oct
The 10th Illuminating York Festival will be a treat for audiences to York this autumn.
Curated for the first time by Artistic Directors, this year’s Festival will be both beautiful and playful with immersive experiences, trails of light and the chance to discover York by night.
The city will play host to intriguing and cutting edge artworks, whilst other key attractions around the city are also joining in with a Festival Fringe.
Taking inspiration from previous years, this year’s programme is designed to engage, enthral, and intrigue audiences.
Inspired by the Festivals own history and in the UNESCO Year of Light, the 2015 Illuminating York Festival celebrates light in all of its forms from sunlight to artificially generated light, from flickering flame to the light emitting diode.
With site specific light based artworks, illuminated routes through this beautiful historic city, and another great supporting programme from world-class visitor attractions and restaurants, visitors are invited to explore York after dark.
Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @IlluminateYork
For more information please see www.illuminatingyork.org
What’s on: Celebrating Ability Week
Mon 26 Oct – Sun 1 Nov
The Sport and Active Leisure team this year have partnered up with Voluntary Sports Clubs and organisations that will be opening up their doors at their home venues for you to try out their sports. Further to this, there will be additional training courses and open days tailored to Visually Impaired and Deaf or hard of hearing individuals.
For programme details please visit www.york.gov.uk/celebratingability
To find information or book on to the available courses please contact-
Simply turn up to the sporting activities available, for further information contact Hannah Higginson on 01904 551431 or at hannah.higginson@york.gov.uk .
The BIG draw at York Minster
Mon 26 – Fri 30 Oct: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Once again, York Minster is pleased to host a week of Big Draw activity during the Autumn half term break (Monday October 26th – Friday October 30th inclusive).
This year’s Big Draw theme – Every Drawing Tells a Story – could hardly be more appropriate in a building whose wealth of medieval carving, stained glass and people have been telling stories for centuries!
The daily sessions will run from 10.00 until 16.00, with the last issue of materials at 15.30.
The drawing station will be in the North transept, below the Five Sisters’ Window, but participants will be free to work throughout the cathedral. There is no charge for materials or to take part, but normal admissions apply.
These sessions are open to anyone of whatever age or experience, and participants may take their drawings away with them our leave them for possible inclusion in the accompanying exhibition.
Chatterbox cafe 12th November – Hedgehogs, stories, advice and seasonal paper gifts
Disability sports on show as part of Celebrating Ability Week
A fun packed week of exciting sports, physical activities and courses are lined up to encourage more York residents into disability sport as part of York’s fifth Celebrating Activity Week, Monday 26 October to Sunday 1 November.
The new programme, co-ordinated by the council’s Sport and Active Leisure team, offers a wide range of taster sessions for disabled children and adults. It includes a full day of sports coaching and fun at Energise, with different afternoons dedicated to both Deaf and Hard of Hearing sport and Visually Impaired sport.
This year, for the first time, sessions are also taking place at 10 different local sports clubs and organisations who are inviting disabled residents through their doors to try what’s on offer. These sessions include Inclusive Cycling at York Sports Village, Tennis at the University of York, Wigginton Tennis Club and David Lloyd Sports Centre, Wheelchair Basketball at Joseph Rowntree School, Deaf Badminton at York Railway Institute and Bowlsability at New Earswick Bowls Club. There will also be a new practical session for young people to help develop wheelchair manoeuvring skills.
A Snooker taster session is planned at York Railway Institute, Queen Street, between 9.30am and 11.30am on Saturday 31 October, led by qualified World Snooker coach, Kevin Gall. It is hoped that enough interest will be shown to enable the launch of a new Inclusive Snooker Club at the venue.
Councillor Nigel Ayre, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism said: “Celebrating Activity Week offers a fantastic opportunity to find out about the many disability sports in York taking place throughout the year and to make new friends. All adults should be aiming to do 150 minutes of physical activity a week and this event will help many to find ways they enjoy of doing just that.”
This year the programme will include a number of short courses for support workers, parents, carers, health professionals, volunteers, coaches and PE teachers which aim to raise awareness and confidence in delivering sports based activities to disabled people.
For more information about Celebrating Activity week visit www.york.gov.uk/celebratingability or call 01904 553377.
What’s on: Bloodaxe book challenge at Acomb Explore library tomorrow
What’s on – Gateway to your Archive: workshop at York Explore library
Sat 24 Oct: 10.00am – 4.00pm
As part of the heritage lottery funded Gateway to History project, Explore York Libraries and Archives are running a series of workshops aimed at local community groups, societies, charities and businesses who are interested in setting up and managing their own archives.
The purpose of this project is to work with local organisations to ensure that the lives of all York’s citizens are recorded in the archives for all time.
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Finding the words
Date: Thur 22 Oct
Time: 7.00pm – 8.00pm
Venue: York Explore Library
Cost: £3.00 / £2.00 with a YorkCard
Join us for a series of twilight events, which invite you to explore new poetry by established poets and discover emerging talents.
More.
Date: Sat 31 Oct
Time: 10.00am – 3.15pm
Venue: York Explore Library
Cost: £55
This is a wonderful opportunity to discuss your poetry on a one-to-one basis with poet Carole Brompley for a relaxed but in-depth analysis of your poems.
What’s on: ‘YORK BEFORE YORK’: THE PREHISTORY OF THE CITY
Sat 17 Oct
This year’s York Archaeology Conference has as its principal theme the study of what is now the City of York in the prehistoric period before it was transformed by the arrival of the Roman army in about AD 71.
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