Carlisle

The winners of the 2010 Cumbria Tourism Awards were revealed at a glitzy ceremony at The Rheged Centre, Penrith last week.

Hundreds of tourism professionals and businesses from around the county gathered at Rheged where the evening began with a drinks reception followed by a celebratory dinner. Host for the evening was Stuart Maconie, TV and radio presenter, who announced the winners and entertained the audience with a series of Cumbria related anecdotes.

Fifteen awards were presented on the night, recognising excellence in business, customer service and training and development.

Each category winner received a certificate and specially designed award, individually handcrafted by Jo Vincent of Jo Vincent Glass Designers.

The winners were:

• Taste of Cumbria Ward – The Cottage in the Wood, Whinlatter
• Guest Accommodation of the Year – Number 43, Arnside
• Large Visitor Attraction of the Year – The World of Beatrix Potter – Bowness
• Small Visitor Attraction of the Year – Lake District Coast Aquarium, Maryport
• Sustainable Tourism Award – Elder Grove, Ambleside
• Large Hotel of the Year – Armathwaite Hall Country House Hotel and Spa, Bassenthwaite
• Small Hotel of the Year – Overwater Hall, Keswick
• The Lady Inglewood Award for Training & Development – Roundthorn Country House, Penrith
• Tourism Experience of the Year – Cumbrian Heavy Horses, Millom
• Holiday Park of the Year – Skelwith Fold Caravan Park, Ambleside and Woodclose Park, Kirkby Lonsdale
• Tourism Event of the Year – Great North Swim, Windermere
• Business Tourism Award – North Lakes Hotel, Penrith
• The Sheila Hensman Award for Outstanding Customer Service – Alan Gillon, Learning and Access Officer, The Beacon, Whitehaven
• Self-catering Holiday of the Year – Tottergill Farm Cottages, Brampton
• Access for All Tourism Award – The Beacon, Whitehaven

Shoppers in Carlisle wanting to taste some international cuisine will be able to sample a shopping experience not to be missed this Easter bank holiday weekend.

An international market, arranged by Carlisle City Council in partnership with Market Place Europe Ltd, will include a variety of world-wide stall and will be open to the public, for an extended period, between this Thursday April 1 and Easter Monday, in the city centre pedestrianised shopping area.

Traders from as far afield as the USA, Thailand, China, India, Egypt, Russia, South Africa and even Peru will be joining European counterparts from France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece and Finland.

Highlights will include spicy flavours from Indian Chef Bansil who will be cooking up some of his spicy curries along with some of the best samosas you will ever taste. There will also be an opportunity to sample and buy some great Egyptian Foods and to finish off the World tour you can try some of the rare and exotic meats and burgers from South Africa including Crocodile, Impala, Wild Boar and Ostrich. From the Middle East there will be Baklava and Mid Eastern sweet cakes plus a great selection of dried fruits and nuts.

Other goods will include sausage and salamis from Germany, in addition to olives, cheeses and sun dried tomatoes from France. George the Greek – George from Pila in Thessaloniki will bring his unique Greek Deli where you can find some of the best Greek breads, taramasalata, humous, olives and stuffed vine leaves (dolmades).

Jimmy Beans will be back with a large selection of flavoured coffee beans, which he will grind to your liking and his large selection of different and exotic teas. There will also be an authentic Polish street café selling some great Polish beers and a German Bar.

For those with a sweet tooth there will be a traditional French Creperie and not to be out done Henri from Holland with their delicious Dutch waffles loaded with cream and all sorts of toppings. The ever popular Gingerbread House will also be attending with wonderful Belgian Chocolates, traditional sweets and designer Easter Cakes.

Green-fingered shoppers will not be disappointed, as the market will include the ‘Flying Dutchman’, Dick van de Wardt, one of the largest plant, flower and bulb specialists from Holland.

There will also be stalls selling jewellery, crafts, clothing, handbags, purses and some very unusual gifts from around the World. Entertainment will also be provided on the bandstand.

Visitors to Talkin Tarn will be able to explore local wildlife and the science of sound at two free events this month.

Activities have been arranged to coincide with National Science and Engineering Week (12th – 21st March) – themed on ‘Earth’.

• Science of Sound – Sunday 14 March – aimed at 6 to 12 year old children. Explore the science of chimes, percussive rhythms and drumming beats. There will also be the science of explosive chemicals, fire and loud bangs with a special guest appearance by Professor Pumpernickel. Two sessions will be held: 10am – 12noon and 1pm – 3pm. Places are limited to 30 children on each session, so booking is essential on 016977 3129.
• Come and Have a Go Day – Sunday 21 March – open to all ages and abilities. There’s the chance to join in with some conservation volunteering and explore the wildlife in the Country Park. The event will be held between 9.45am and 3.30pm. There will be a wide range of different activities on offer including bird and tree surveys, bird box building and ditch clearing. No need to book, all welcome (children need to accompanied by an adult). Telephone 016977 3129.

More events are planned to celebrate International Day of Biodiversity (Saturday 22 May) and Love Parks Week (24 July – 1 August).

One of Britain’s biggest and most innovative seasons of outdoor arts events will take place across Cumbria again this spring and summer, set against the county’s beautiful and varied landscape and heritage.

This year’s Lakes Alive programme of events will run from 29 April to 5 September. It is Cumbria’s unique contribution to the Legacy Trust UK programme, which was set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The mainly free shows will include modern circus, dramatic outdoor theatre, contemporary dance and exciting, fiery processions.

Lakes Alive is created and directed by Kendal Arts International with Manchester International Arts. Julie Tait, the director of Kendal Arts International, says: “Lakes Alive is an ambitious four–year Cumbria–wide programme. Last year we set ourselves the objective of making the county a centre of excellence for street arts and we are already well on the way to making that a reality.

“Over 75,000 attended the events in our first year and by 2012 we will have brought at least £4 million of new arts spending into the county. We’re very excited by this year’s programme. As well as the top UK acts, Lakes Alive in 2010 will feature work by outdoor arts companies from across the world including Spain, France, Holland, Germany, Austria, India and Australia.”

There will be a chance to get a taste of Lakes Alive ahead of the full season at the Welcoming the Light event in Carlisle on Saturday 13 March, as part of Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall. A fiery parade will be accompanied by street artists and musicians and led by the incredible Heliosphere balloon with a performer suspended beneath it performing aerial acrobatics.

The Lakes Alive season will formally open in the atmospheric ruins of Furness Abbey near Barrow from 29 April to 2 May, with evening performances of a new show created by critically-acclaimed South Asian Dance Company, Akademi. The show has been specially commissioned by Lakes Alive.

A series of events across the May half term holidays will start with a thrilling outdoor animation festival in Whitehaven showcasing the town’s historic harbour on 29 and 30 May, including a dramatic procession with fire, light and giant illuminated fish by Spanish artists Sarruga.

From 3 to 5 June We Built This City will give people a chance to take part in a public construction extravaganza in the centre of Carlisle. Using thousands of big cardboard boxes and the energy and ingenuity of kids and families, Polyglot Theatre from Australia will help build a magnificent city.

Accompanied by live music buildings will go up, be pulled down, be redesigned, extended, walked through and jumped on, and reconstructed. At the end of the day, everybody can have fun knocking down and squashing the whole city into a recyclable heap of cardboard rubble.

In the south of the county Barrow will welcome some of the best and most exciting modern circus acts from Britain and overseas from 4 to 6 June. Zircus Plus, a unique International Circus Festival, will put on an amazing show at several locations across the town.

On 23 and 24 July German group Theater Titanick, one of Europe’s leading outdoor performance companies, will stage a stunning, large-scale show involving illusion, fire, water, music and dance at Carlisle Castle.

From 28-30 July a number of Cumbrian woodlands will play host to an afternoon of shows that have been specially created for woods or with a woodland theme. Into the Woods at Grizedale, Whinlatter and Talkin Tarn will provide an afternoon of outdoor family adventure with a difference.

Also during the summer holidays (dates TBC), The Cabaret of Dr Caligari, a show created especially for Lakes Alive in 2009, will tour towns in West Cumbria providing an afternoon of cabaret with music, dancing, comedy and spectacle for a family audience. The chaotic Dr Caligari conjures oddities, eccentrics and acrobats out of thin air to entertain the audience, but once out of the box they refuse to disappear!

On Sunday 1 August in Penrith there will be a new international street festival featuring puppetry, strolling characters, comic creations and more from across the globe.

On 30 August highly respected French artists Commandos Percu will stage a dazzling extravaganza of sound, fire, light and colour at Maryport.

The season of events will culminate in Mintfest, one of the country’s largest street arts festivals, which takes place in Kendal at the gateway to the Lakes. Running from 2 to 5 September the festival will include a host of the very best street artists from across the world, including new work commissioned by the UK street arts consortium Without Walls.

Further details about all the shows will be available at www.lakesalive.org.

Lakes Alive is one of three annual programmes commissioned for WE PLAY, the Northwest cultural legacy programme for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. WE PLAY is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games. The project is led by the Arts Council England Northwest on behalf of a new regional partnership. Lakes Alive is sponsored by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and has also received funding from Arts Council England and the Northern Rock Foundation.

Moira Swinbank, the Chief Executive of Legacy Trust UK, says: “Legacy Trust UK is delighted to be funding Lakes Alive, which has already made a considerable impact on Cumbria’s cultural landscape and will continue to build a lasting cultural legacy for the area with the fantastic line-up for the 2010 programme.

Peter Mearns, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at the NWDA said: “Lakes Alive has fast become a much anticipated programme of world-class events, attracting visitors to Cumbria from far and wide. It’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase the region to a wide audience and adds a whole new dimension to the visitor experience. 2010 promises to deliver another unique collection of events which will no doubt provide a great boost to the region’s visitor economy.”

The Lakes Alive season is also supported by a wide range of other organisations including every council in Cumbria, the Lake District National Park, Cumbria Tourism, Carlisle Renaissance, Carlisle Tourism Partnership, Barrow Regeneration, the Forestry Commission and companies including K Village.

Plans to light up Hadrian’sWall have been unveiled.

Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall will be a spectacular line of light from coast to coast, along the length of Hadrian’s Wall, on Saturday 13th March 2010.

It will follow the route of the 84 mile long Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail and there will be around 500 individual points of light, placed at 250 metre intervals.

The first light will be illuminated at Wallsend in the North East, with the line of light then making its way along the Wall to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria over the following hour.

Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall is an ambitious project led by Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd. It forms part of the world-class programme of festivals and events developed by culture10 in the North East of England and the Lakes Alive programme in Cumbria, presented by Kendal Arts International and Manchester International Arts.

Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall is also a flagship event of British Tourism Week 2010.

Multi-million plans have been put forward to create a new cutting-edge Roman Gallery at the Tullie House Museum and tourism trail linking in with Hadrian’s Wall.

A report to Carlisle City Council’s Executive committee seeks approval for the proposed £2.37 million Roman Gateway Project to go on to next stage and seek funding from regional and European funding bodies. The combined scheme includes:

• A new Roman Gallery aims to create a contemporary world-class, must-see attraction at the western end of Hadrian’s Wall. The new 400m² space will use the existing Millennium gallery space and will include cutting-edge interactive technology to explore the concepts of frontiers, focusing on the Roman Empire, Carlisle, and Hadrian’s Wall. It will include five narrative themes: On the Edge of Europe’s Largest Empire; The Dynamic Frontier; Britain as an Imperial Province; Real Life in Roman Carlisle and The Living Wall; and
• A tourism trail that will complement the new gallery and link in with the Hadrian’s Wall path. This would include interpretative features that will illustrate the city’s strong association with its Roman heritage. Way-markers, art-work and features will be designed to reflect the materials and history of Hadrian’s Wall and its forts.

Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson, said. ‘We need to build on our Roman heritage and Carlisle is one of the key gateways to Hadrian’s Wall. The plans will ensure that Tullie House is one of the region’s leading visitor attractions, with the new Roman Gateway Gallery at its core. It will give another reason for visitors to come to the city and will be a major boost to local tourism and economy.’

It is proposed that the City Council provides £260,000 towards the project. Capital funding bids to the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) will be sought for the remaining funding. Revenue funding bids will also be sought from the NWDA, ERDF and the Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd.

If the funding bids are agreed, the new Roman Gallery is planned to be open by spring 2011.

Santa will be making a visit to Carlisle’s Talkin Tarn this Christmas. A Green Grotto will be open in the Alex Boathouse on Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 December, Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 December and Saturday 19 – Sunday 20 December, between 11am and 3pm each day. As well as meeting Santa and receiving a small gift, there will also be the chance for local children to post their letter to Lapland. Entry is £2.50 per child.

The Carlisle Christmas Carol Parade will be held on Thursday 10 December. It starts at the Cathedral at 6.30 pm and will be followed by a Hog Roast in the historic Tithe Barn. Tickets are available from the Tourist Information Centre.

Following last year’s success, the Carlisle Christmas Market will be held from Wednesday 2 December to Sunday 6 December. It will be located next to the city’s Market Hall, which will be staging a Christmas party on Saturday 5 December.

Carlisle City Council has announced that the city’s Christmas lights will be switched on Sunday November 15 2009.

The free open air event promises to be a fabulous afternoon that will include live music and the chance to take part in a mass sing-a-long.

CBBC presenters Iain Stirling will join the Mayor of Carlisle to switch on the Christmas lights at 5.30pm. Iain is thrilled to be part of the event, he said:

The BIG Switch On will begin Carlisle’s countdown to Christmas. The programme will start at 3 pm with a reflective celebration for all who have been touched by the special work undertaken by Eden Valley Hospice. The Light Up A Life service will be a chance to remember loved ones, at the time of year when they are missed most. There will be a selection poignant readings and a scattering of popular Christmas carols backed by the ever popular Salvation Army Brass Band. At 3.30 pm the Light Up A Life Christmas tree will be lit by celebrity guest Anne Nolan.

From 3.30 pm the stage will feature non-stop entertainment, hosted by ITV Lookaround presenters Pam Royale and Ian Payne and CFM’s Robbie Dee.

First up is Carlisle Does kara-ABBA-Oke! With what is surely going to be the city’s biggest ever sing-along, a team of singers and dancers will lead the crowd through all of ABBA’s biggest hits, with the lyrics to each song being displayed for all to see on Eddie Stobart’s giant screen.

Next, Disco Diva Anne Nolan will be showing the crowd how to strut their stuff and proving that she’s still in the mood for dancing as she performs a fast moving foot stomping set of disco hits.

The whole show cast and presenters will watch on as CBBC star Iain Stirling and the Mayor of Carlisle trigger the lights at 5.30 pm. X Factor stars, Same Difference will perform the show’s finale.

The final preparations for Carlisle’s Christmas are well underway. A sparkling ten metre tall tree will be the city’s centrepiece and will include colourful decorations and lights. The feature is set to dazzle and delight and is yet another attraction to savour as part of Carlisle city centre’s overall illuminations.