2015 Waterfront Photography Competition Launch!

AND WE ARE BACK! LEEDS WATERFRONT FESTIVAL 2015

This year, Leeds Waterfront Festival has teamed up with the Shipley Arts Festival team to create a unique opportunity to celebrate the river and canal ways flowing through city and rural locations from Leeds to Shipley. We are challenging all keen amateur and professional photographers out there to submit their best shots inspired by the water and the communities surrounding it.

Our judges are looking for images that demonstrate what you love about these fantastic waterside walks and destinations….is it the modern architecture, the heritage, the wildlife, the people, the nightlife or perhaps there’s a spot that holds a special place in your heart…whatever inspires you about being close to the water, we’d love to see your images and of course there are lots of fantastic prizes in the pipeline for all the winners and runners up in each category!

Last year’s overall winning image by Lance Sagar

There are two age categories for this completion, over 16’s and 16 and under and anyone can enter! So if you are an enthusiastic amateur photographer, an instagram addict, professional or just starting out and want to capture your favorite place along the waterways….just get involved and help us to celebrate the heritage, the beauty and potential our wonderful waterways have to offer!

On 27th June we will be hosting the 2015 Waterfront Festival launch party at Leeds Dock and the best images from this competition will be on display in a fantastic digital exhibition open to the public over festival weekend. Help us to flood the digital world with beautiful images of everything the Leeds and Bradford waterways have to offer!

Categories: There will be a prize for the winner and runner up in each category.

Under 16s
Best Wildlife Photography
Connections (your creative interpretation)
Heart of Leeds Waterways
Heart of Bradford Waterways

16s and over
The future face of The Waterfront
Best Wildlife Photography
Connections(your creative interpretation)
Heart of Leeds Waterways
Heart of Bradford Waterways

An overall winner will be chosen by our panel of judges from all winning entries An overall winner will be chosen by our panel of judges from all winning entries

Prizes: To be announced.

To enter, just submit your favorite shot which captures the essence of your personal interpretation of the category you are entering. You can enter as many categories as you like, but you must submit a different image for each. We must receive your entries by 5pm Friday 19th June 2015 via email to LeedsWaterfrontFestival@gmail.com with PHOTO COMP in the subject bar. Please ensure you include your contact details, including phone number and age and parent/guardian details if under 16. We can only accept digital entries to this competition.

All shortlisted photographers will be invited to the Leeds waterfront festival launch event on Friday 26th June where the winners will be announced and subsequently re-announced on Saturday at the Shipley street Arts festival.

So what are you waiting for… head down to the water, explore and get snapping!

Please note:
We would want to reproduce some of the images for the exhibition at Leeds Dock and also have an online gallery of images from the competition and use them on our social media sites. Shipley street arts festival may also want to create an exhibit of some images. We will not be seeking to profit or take ownership of the images but would want to share them as part of the general publicity for the waterfront festival and will credit all photographers if and when their images are used. If circumstances arose where we would like to reproduce an image for publicity purposes (for example for use on a flyer to advertise next year’s festivals) we would seek permission to use the image from the photographer.

Playful Leeds Robot Trail!

This Saturday as part of the festival fun we are lucky enough to have the fabulous Playful Leeds team with us!

March of the Robots have been busy making robots across Leeds but some of them have wandered off around the river and canal looking for fun times at the Waterfront Festival and we need your help to find them! There are 14 to find and you can pick up information at Magellan House at Leeds Dock over the weekend about their stories or download them here  robot trail     robot trail 2

Why not tweet us at #MOTR with your favourite robot.

The robots in our trail were made by people of all ages at the March of the Robots Tinkerbots Mission Lab at Armley Mills Museum last weekend and at Heydays- creative weekly sessions for over 55’s at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. They’re made with junk, old bits of technology and lots of imagination!

The Armley Mission Lab was funded by Armley First and run by Gizmobot maker extraordinaire  Mark Haig with the awesome Alison Booth, March of the Robots’ resident robot wrangler. Photos of the Tinkerbots being made and the brilliant robo-techs who made them can be seen here .

March of the Robots is a project by Playful Leeds with a mission to get creative all over Leeds and make 10,000 robots together. Can you help us? There are lots of ways to get involved for all ages at marchoftherobots.com – we need you! And you MUST come along to the grand finale event in Leeds on 25-26 October 2014.

Good luck finding the robots! – Beeeep

 

 

 

Gig on the Barge line up

So we have some great acts for you playing on our barges this weekend strictly 12 places per barge so if you want to guarantee a place please contact lucy.meredith02@gmail.com to reserve a seat!

On Saturday we have the fabulous Marianna Harlotta serenading you from Thwaite Mills back to Leeds Dock at 4.15pm.

On Sunday the barge is doing 30 min rides from Leeds Dock:

1.30pm Georgette Hilton

2.15pm Mark Pollock

3.45pm Skank Agenda

More acts to follow!

 

Gig on the Barge…

If you fancy a chilled barge trip this weekend we are running gig on a barge! full time, full line up and loactions to follow! Barge trips are 30 mins and you will be serenaded by Leeds finest! First up!

Meet Mark Pollock………Mark Pollock is Lo-fi Blusey Folk.  For fans of Bert Jansch, John Fahey, Jackson C Frank. He used to be a member of the folk society at Leeds Uni and plays a few open mics and gigs on the ‘folk scene’ around Leeds.

Our new programme

Check out our lovely new programme for this weekends festival with timings of events and a map of the sites there will be extra information and updates coming this week as more events are added and hard copies of the programmes will be available at all the sites but if you want to plan ahead now is your chance! Just click on the link here Waterfront Programme!

 

Looking forward to seeing you there! Keep up to date on our Facebook page and Twitter @LeedsWFFLeeds

 

Fancy a touch of France at Victoria Wharf hosted by Brasserie Blanc….

We love Brasserie Blanc and can’t wait to enjoy a little touch of French flavour down at Victoria Wharf at this year’s Waterfront Festival!

Join the team at Brasserie Blanc this year!

No strangers to the festival, you can always be sure of a good time on the terrace at Brasserie Blanc watching the world go by whilst sharing a good bottle of wine and some delicious food!

Festival goers can take advantage of the free bottle of wine offer if they choose to dine here over the festival…everyone love free wine!

Just print off the voucher and claim you FREE bottle of wine over festival weekend!

There’s always a fantastic atmosphere here over festival weekend and this year is no exception! If you like cars, the why not take a look at the classic 2CV on display and if you would like to try a new game, why not watch the Pentaque display and join in the Boules play.

Nice car!

Brasserie Blanc is also a big part of the Handmade and Arts trail across the festival weekend with talented artists and makers exhibiting their work at this lively destination. We just love the beautiful illustrations by artist Laura Hilton-Smith and cant wait to see her full collection but for now take a look at her work below, I absolutely love the cockerel and the hedgehog!

Illustration by Laura Hilton-Smith

Illustration by Laura Hilton-Smith

You can’t have a festival without music and the guys at Brasserie Blanc have that covered for you too… sit in the sun with a drink and good food, listen to music, browse the stalls and enjoy a leisurely game of Boules or two!

Sounds like the perfect way to spend a festival weekend…see you there!

 

 

 

Helen Chambers

The lovely Helen Chambers will be first up on the floating Stage at Leeds Dock next Sunday at 11am……

A mix of classic easy listening and contemporary acoustic music, Helen’s sound fits well within the boundaries of ‘country’ and ‘folk’. Driven by her soft, yet powerful, voice and simple acoustic melodies, her music has mass appeal and, despite being ‘too country for folk punk and too folk punk for country’, has seen her embraced by punk rock and folk fans alike. This ability to transcend genre made Helen an ideal inclusion on The Revival Tour and, tour founder, Chuck Ragan invited her along in 2011. Performing on a variety of dates – including a sold out show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire – Helen announced herself to fans around the UK and, having impressed so much, was asked back the following year.
Helen’s inclusion on the tour coincided with the release of a split record with Ragan, for which she recorded three tracks and he covered one of hers (‘Steven Patrick’). This collaboration would not be the last, as the pair duet on ‘Banners’ – a track taken from Helen’s forthcoming debut album, ‘Penny Arcade’.
Video: “Caravan”
Web: http://www.helenchambersmusic.com/
Twitter: @helenchambers80

SPOTLIGHT ON J-A-R EXHIBITING AT LEEDS DOCK FOR LEEDS WATERFRONT FESTIVAL WEEKEND!

Delightful limited edition prints…

Bunting…Bow ties…Buttons…Illustrations and all things beautiful are created by Mum and Daughter team J-A-R!

All set to share their wares at Leeds Waterfront Festival this year, this talented duo will have a wonderful assortment of handmade treats on sale at the Leeds Dock market over festival weekend!

Bow-ties, buttons and brooches!

Daughter Jess and Mum Rachel or perhaps better known as the ‘doodler and the stitcher’, truly adore what they do so be assured any stationary, accessories or home wares purchased from this duo will have been handcrafted with lots and lots of LOVE.

Cute and beautifully hand-crafted!

Catch up with this friendly duo NEXT weekend at Leeds Dock!

Spotlight on ORNAMENT exhibiting at Leeds Dock for festival weekend!

Charlotte Whitmore is  the creator of the most beautiful jewellery and accessories for her company Ornament and we are delighted to have her fabulous collection of delicate silver jewellery and unique accessories exhibited and on sale at the handmade and vintage market at Leeds Dock as part of Leeds Waterfront Festival this year.

Colourful Silver and Bakelite bird and flower pins

Passionate about recycling, Ornament’s jewellery is made from silver and recycled materials.

Beautifully hand-crafted silver bangles

Here’s a couple pictures from the range of men’s and women’s items…

We love the tulip design women’s purse!

Distinctive and cool men’s washbag

Check out the full range of beautifully crafted jewellery and accessories from Ornament at Leeds Dock Market on both Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June.

To keep in touch with Ornament and all their new designs and news, you can follow Charlotte on Twitter.

 

 

Calls Landing – we’ve got a BIG crush!

View from the balcony window at Calls Landing

So when we took on the job of managing this years Waterfront Festival, one of our first meeting was with Tom and Anton from Calls Landing. We loved the cool 70’s décor, vintage furniture and fabulous terrace with one of the most amazing views of the waterfront!

Our affection for Calls Landing has grown…partly due to lovely hospitality from Bar Manager Anton but mainly because we just love the relaxed vibe and the guys’ passion for promoting local beers and produce.

Calls Landing is one of our top destinations for this years Waterfront Festival and there’s plenty of reasons why! With a dedication to supporting local produce and new business, the guys create an fantastic outdoor vibe with good local food, their house beers on tap and the best local coffee served from an orange camper to die for!

Heading down to the calls, you cant miss the Calls Landing land mark!

During the festival this year, you will find an outdoor space, filled with local food and drinks providers, burgers, coffee and beer, served from campers and retro army vans…you’ll sample street food, their signature dish Stew & Oysters all whilst chilling out to cool hip hop, soul, funk, live bands and buskers.

One of the reasons we love Calls Landing SO MUCH is that it provides a really chilled uber-cool environment that welcomes families and even your beloved dog!

News Flash! Life isn’t over when you have kids (or a pet) you can still hang out in a cool bar and enjoy good food, local beers and good company (only at Calls Landing though!).

If you are the kind of parent that loves a decent pint and bite to eat, you’ll love the bouncy castle, water slide and on tap Mr Whippy ice-cream all day at Calls Landing! So join us, at the best location to enjoy the sunshine and chill out with a decent drink and fun for all the family.

🙂