Blackburn Cathedral recently welcomed Lady Shuttleworth to officially launch the 2016 Blackburn Cathedral Flower Festival.
Lady Shuttleworth, the patron of the festival, met with organisers of the event and saw the full plans for this landmark festival for Lancashire. The festival, which is expected to attract thousands of people from across the country, takes place at the Cathedral from 23rd to 26th June 2016.
Special events during the festival include an exclusive preview evening, hosted by Lady Shuttleworth, an afternoon concert, a classical music concert, a secret garden with the cathedral specially lit in the evening, a black tie dinner, floral art and flower arranging stalls and demonstrations.
The cathedral will be filled with thousands of blooms with spectacular contemporary installations. The stunning light and open architecture will provide an ideal environment to showcase beautiful and imaginative floral displays designed by internationally renowned Bill Dixon, supported by Hans Haverkamp and interpreted by a team of experienced floral artists from across the Diocese and beyond.
The event has been created by the Friends of Blackburn Cathedral and Karen Brooke, one of the organisers, said “It was a great thrill to welcome Lady Shuttleworth to the cathedral to see the exciting plans in place for the festival. The scale of this event is expected to bring many new visitors to Blackburn and tickets are already selling through our website, even though we have nearly a year to go!
“We have already secured sponsorship from the Blackburn BID and will be able to announce new sponsors in the next few weeks. We are already very pleased by the response we have had not just locally, but from groups and other cathedrals around the UK.”
Opportunities to sponsor the event, ticket sales and more information are available from the Festival website at www.blackburncathedralflowerfestival.com. Advance ticket sales are currently available at a special reduced rate from the website.
Pictured are Lady Shuttleworth (middle) with organisers Lowri Cope (left) and Karen Brooke (right)