Belford Parish Council: Arts festival and streetlight concerns

Fiona Renner-Thompson, who is organising an arts festival for Belford.

At last Thursday’s meeting of Belford Parish Council, members heard from Fiona Renner-Thompson, one of those behind the event, about the plans.

The idea came up when a friend was looking for a venue to exhibit some art in the summer and Fiona thought that it would be good to have a festival, like Alnmouth’s annual event in June.

It is planned to run for a week, starting on Saturday, July 22, taking place in venues across the village, everywhere from halls to garages.

The aim, said Fiona, is to ‘try to make the village buzzy for a week, to try to get people in and to try to support the businesses’.

A meeting for anyone interested in getting involved in the festival and its organisation is taking place today at 7pm in the Market Cross Guest House.

Local groups such as the rag-ruggers and Belford Photography Group are set to exhibit, but artists from further afield will also be invited.

Fiona added: “We were thinking about keeping it low-key for the first year, but more and more people are joining in.”

• Concerns have been raised about the new streetlights in Raynham Close not being bright enough, reported Coun Reg Carruthers. Work has begun to replace the old lamps with new LED lights, part of a major modernisation programme by the county council across Northumberland.