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About Us
The Kirkgate Centre is an entertainment and cultural venue at the heart of the lively community of Cockermouth, Cumbria.
We celebrate our local talent and heritage, and bring top quality professional entertainment to
our town and many other communities across the area to the west of the Lake District National Park.
Whether you enjoy films on a big screen, live music, theatre, exhibitions, shows for children and families or community events, Kirkgate has something for everyone. Our quirky character makes us a special venue for weddings, parties, festivals and conferences.
Our mission:
Kirkgate Arts and Heritage delivers opportunities for all to actively enjoy the arts, local heritage and community life; and ensures that creative talent is valued, developed and nurtured in a manner that is financially secure and commands enthusiastic public support.
We will ensure that the organization is sustainable for future generations, both financially and environmentally. We will also provide an environment that encourages growth, the development of skills and confidence, and enjoyment for all.
Strategic Objectives:
The mission will be delivered through the following strategic objectives:
- Kirkgate Arts and Heritage will be the pre-eminent deliverer of a broad range of geographically dispersed arts and community projects across Cumberland.
- Kirkgate Arts and Heritage will offer a long-term solution to ensure that the heritage collection is stored and cared for to a professional standard; and encourages engagement with it by the local community.
- The Kirkgate Centre will sustainably act as the community and cultural centre for Cockermouth.
- Kirkgate Arts and Heritage will successfully deliver a wide-ranging rural touring programme through Arts Out West.
- Kirkgate Arts and Heritage will have strengthened its financial position to ensure that the organisation has a sustainable future.
- Kirkgate Arts and Heritage will support and develop the roles of our volunteers, building on the strong tradition of volunteers being at the heart of the organisation.
WHAT’S ON
Heritage Talk – Common Ground: the History of Common Land in Britain with Angus Winchester
12th October 2026 6:00pm (Doors open at 5:30 pm)
Kirkgate Centre
Common land accounts for over one million hectares of Britain today, almost all of it ‘half wild country’ (to use the late Alan Everitt’s evocative phrase): mountain, moorland, wetland, scrubby woodland or heath. As well as being an integral part of the livestock farming system in northern and western Britain, commons are valued more widely by modern society, as open ...
The Invite (15)
12th October 2026 8:00pm (Doors open at 7:00 pm)
Kirkgate Centre
Joe and Angela's marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbours for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?. It seems that the chance to watch a genuinely funny and uncommonly intelligent comedy for adults is an invite we have ...
The Invite (15)
14th October 2026 2:00pm (Doors open at 1:00 pm)
Kirkgate Centre
Joe and Angela's marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbours for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?. It seems that the chance to watch a genuinely funny and uncommonly intelligent comedy for adults is an invite we have ...
Fake @ Whitehaven Library – Arts Out West
15th October 2026 7:00pm (Doors open at 6:30 pm)
Whitehaven Library
It's pretty, but is it art? Through magic, comedy and storytelling,Chris Cookshares the story of a faker so skilled he had to forge his way to freedom, an artist so talented he may himself be a fraud, a magician whose promise conceals a lie, and a mysterious figure who may not even exist. A story only a magician could tell. ...