We’re well into bank holiday season, and bluebells haven’t let us down this year! Did you know that there’s a gruesome legend surrounding the beautiful display in Rannderale? Read more below. May is another month full of music at the Kirkgate, we’ve already had two superb live gigs and there’s another two to go. Did you make it along to …
Kirkgate says thanks with a little Joni magic!
Representatives of a Cumbria-based charity that helped fund a major upgrade of facilities at Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Centre have been able to see – and sample – the improvements first hand! Eric Southward, a trustee of the Benny Walker Charitable Trust, and his wife Janet were invited along to Saturday’s sellout performance by Joni Mitchell tribute band This Flight Tonight. The …
Major improvement programme at Kirkgate Centre complete
A near £300,000 refurbishment programme at Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Centre is complete. An 18-month improvement project, with funding from a range of organisations, has allowed the Kirkgate to substantially upgrade the equipment and facilities at its town centre base – a converted Victorian primary school. To mark the event, representatives from one of the major funders, the Benny Walker Charitable Trust, …
Kirkgate Quarter Chronicle April 2026
Spring has well and truly sprung in recent weeks, the weather doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do… but we have faith that the sunshine will win the battle! It’s the perfect time for a clear out and a fresh start, and we’ve got plenty going on this month to help with that. You’ll have had details of …
Cumbrian Arts Project features in National Exhibition
The Cockermouth Community Musical, developed through Kirkgate Arts and Heritage as part of the Our Freedom: Then and Now project, is part of a national photography exhibition launched recently in London to a host of organisation representatives. Our Freedom: Then and Now was a UK-wide, locally-led arts and creative programme reflecting on what ‘Our Freedom’ means to local people and …
Oscars glitz and glamour heads to the Kirkgate!
The Oscar winners are on their way to Cockermouth! The town’s Kirkgate Centre hosts weekly movie screenings with popular films shown each Friday, then the following Monday and Wednesday. And this week’s offering is none other than Hamnet, for which star Jessie Buckley won the Oscar for Best Actress at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The film dramatises …
Kirkgate Quarter Chronicle March 2026
After Jazz January, Film February… Let’s make it a musical March! We’ve already had two members of the NE Street Band with their ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ show, and we’re fast approaching a sell out gig from Tryckster this Saturday. Later this month we welcome Old Baby Mackerel to the Kirkgate stage, after sell out performances on our Arts Out West rural touring network last year. Definitely not to …
Three top quality acts to take centre stage at Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Arts Centre.
Three top quality acts who proved big hits on recent visits to Cumbria will shortly take centre stage at Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Arts Centre. All three proved hugely popular when they visited Cumbria as part of the Arts Out West programme, which stages performances in community venues from Furness to the Solway and is managed by the Kirkgate. “These three acts …
The Kirkgate Centre popular monthly Crafts@Kirkgate programme
The Kirkgate Centre in Cockermouth’s popular monthly Crafts@Kirkgate programme led by professional artists is now up and running with all 2026 dates confirmed. This year’s series kicked off last month with Flower Painting for Beginners. It continues shortly with a Fused Glass Taster Session led by Roxanne Denny of RD Glass on Saturday, February 28 (2pm). Kirkgate Chief Executive Emma …
Kirkgate Quarter Chronicle February 2026
It’s lovely seeing the snowdrops bobbing their heads above ground! Not long until they’re followed by daffodils, then we’ll know spring is well on it’s way. Look out for the blooms appearing in front of the centre, the bulbs donated by Cockermouth Rotary and planted by a team of volunteers to join in with the town’s daffodil extravaganza in March …