Kirkgate Arts & Heritage

Name: Kirkgate Arts & Heritage
Address: The Kirkgate Centre, Kirkgate, Cockermouth, CA139PJ, GB
Telephone: +441900829966
Price range: $
Rating: 4.8

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Kirkgate Arts & Heritage

Kirkgate Arts & Heritage
Registered Charity Number 1126602 Discover live music, theatre, comedy, children's shows, classes, community groups & much more!

Welcome to Kirkgate Arts & Heritage- home to Cockermouth's vibrant venue the Kirkgate Centre & Cumbria's rural touring scheme Arts Out West. Please visit our website for more information https://kirkgateartsandheritage.org.uk/ our box office is open from 10am until midday on Mondays and Fridays, and for an hour prior to most public events. You can book online via our website, or call 01900 826448

and leave a message - a box office volunteer will call you back when the office is open. Page rules:

1) Always be kind and courteous. We're all in this together to create a welcoming environment.

2) No hate speech or bullying -this will result in your comments being deleted, and yourself being banned from the page.

3) Please do share your experience of our events, we appreciate your feedback.

4) No promotions or spam.

5) Make sure everyone feels safe. Respect everyone's privacy.

25/11/2025

Crafts @ The Kirkgate next week 😍

Christmas Wreaths!

Celebrate Cumbria’s winter season by making your very own sustainable Festive Wreath to dress your front door.

Cumberland Flower Farm will bring a lovely mix of cumbrian evergreen foliages, grasses and berries and guide you in crafting a compostable wreath using sustainable materials and techniques.

At The Kirkgate Arts Centre, Saturday 6th of December
10:00am + 2:00pm (two hour sessions)
Tickets: £50pp
Head to our website and select the ‘Join in’ category to book your tickets!

25/11/2025

A huge congratulations to everyone who took part in the Cockermouth Community Musical at the Christmas Lights Switch On Sunday!

We were so proud to be able to perform the world premier for the town! And thank you to the audience who brave rain, hail and thunder to enjoy the performance. We're a hardy bunch in West Cumbria!

There is more information and sources for all the stories in the show on our website, we'll share the link in the comments.

Many thanks to Jessie McMeekin and JP Worsfold for putting the show together, writing beautiful stories and powerful music, and to Dave Camlin for leading the choir. Thank you as well to Cockermouth Town Council for giving us space on the Lights Switch on programme.

If you'd like a chance to see the performance in the warm and dry we're doing it again on 14th December at the Kirkgate and tickets are free! Book on our website.

Our Freedom: Then and Now is part of a £2million national creative programme taking place across 60 arts centres marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Supported by the UK government through Arts Council England, Future Arts Centres and the Libraries Connected Initiative

Jessie McMeekin Storytelling J P Worsfold Wild Chorus Sing Owt Cockermouth Town Council Future Arts Centres

23/11/2025

The stage programme for the Christmas Lights Switch On today!

Don't miss the WORLD PREMIER of the Cockermouth Community Musical for the Our Freedom: Then & Now project at 1:30pm! Created by Jessie McMeekin and JP Worsfold, choir director Dave Camlin and performed with a choir of local residents.

We'll see you there!

J P Worsfold Jessie McMeekin Storytelling Wild Chorus Cockermouth Town Council

23/11/2025

Crafts @ The Kirkgate coming up 😍

Christmas Wreaths!

Celebrate Cumbria’s winter season by making your very own sustainable Festive Wreath to dress your front door.

Cumberland Flower Farm will bring a lovely mix of cumbrian evergreen foliages, grasses and berries and guide you in crafting a compostable wreath using sustainable materials and techniques.

At The Kirkgate Arts Centre, Saturday 6th of December
10:00am + 2:00pm (two hour sessions)
Tickets: £50pp
Head to our website and select the ‘Join in’ category to book your tickets!

We've got a fantastic range of stalls at the Monthly Market today. Open until 1pm.Some fantastic gifts by local makers a...

22/11/2025

We've got a fantastic range of stalls at the Monthly Market today. Open until 1pm.

Some fantastic gifts by local makers and good quality bric-a-brac . Perfect for Christmas ⛄🎁🎄

With Quangle Crafts John Greig House of Paper by Sara, Cockermouth Scout Group raising funds for their Switzerland trip next year, Grizzly Remedies Formed By Flook Fleur De Vie, Cold Keld Lorton Village Shop - A Shed With A View Cockermouth Town

22/11/2025

First event of a very busy weekend at The Kirkgate. loads of stalls to browse and coffee on offer , entry free . Hope you can call in .

21/11/2025

Arts Out West coming up 🤩

It's Donnelly & South’s Christmas Cracker!

'The most fun you can have without shinning down someone’s chimney'

At Muncaster Parish Hall, Ravenglass, Friday 5th December
7:30pm
Tickets: £12/£6/£25

At Florence Arts Centre, Egremont, Saturday 6th December
1:30pm
Tickets: £12/£6/£25

At Kirksanton Village Hall, Saturday 6th December
7:00pm
Tickets: £12/£6/£25

At Maryport Settlement, Sunday 7th December
7:30pm
Tickets: £12/£6/£25

Florence Arts Centre

Head to our website and select the ‘Arts Out West’ category to book your tickets!

21/11/2025

Jennings Heritage Drop Ins

Did you work at Jennings brewery or a Jennings Pub? Have you got a collection of Jennings memorabilia? 🍻

We’re working with Jennings Brewery to develop their heritage centre and brewery tours. We want to hear your Jennings stories and memories and see any photos, memorabilia, scrapbooks and more you might have at home.

We’ll have some of the Jenning’s items in Cockermouth Heritage Collection available for you to have a look at, and Kirkgate volunteers will be on hand to record your stories.

We’re holding two drop-in sessions on Wednesday, 26th November from 4pm – 8pm and Thursday 27th November 10am – 12noon ⏰ at Jennings Brewey.

If you have Jennings memories to share, but can’t make the drop ins, get in touch with Helen Johnston helen@thekirkgate com or ring 01900 829966

We're looking forward to seeing you there!

21/11/2025

🎶🎶 Live Music this weekend!!

Jazz@Kirkgate: Arun Ghosh 'Northern Quartet'
Sunday, 23 November, 7:30pm

Very excited to be able to bring this artist to the Kirkgate, with some fabulous musicians.

Arun Ghosh is a British-Asian clarinettist, composer and music educator.

Named as Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year in 2014 and 2018 in the APPJA / Parliamentary Jazz Awards

Arun brings his “Northern quartet” to jazz@Kirkgate featuring John Ellis on piano and Dave Walsh on drums (4th member of quartet TBA)

Conceived in Calcutta, bred in Bolton, matured in Manchester and now living in London, Arun's musical vocabulary and vision reflects his rich geographical heritage.Using the spirit and language of jazz, with the sounds and styles of hip-hop, Indian classical and folk, western classical, rock, pop and avant-garde, Ghosh's music is full of lyrical melodies and searching harmonies, down to earth directness and psychedelic ambient introspection.

Constantly experimenting with live formats and arrangements has been key to Arun Ghosh's growing reputation for creating music that is ...at once no-nonsense, thrilling and beautiful...uproarious and irresistible (The Telegraph).

Arun Ghosh

20/11/2025

🎬🍿🎥 Our film this week:

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (15)

Showtimes:

Friday, 21st November: 7pm
Monday, 24th November, 9pm

We can’t be the only Rocky Horror Picture Show fans out there.

This documentary, an insider’s account, follows the strange journey of Rocky Horror over the last five decades. The original film was a complete flop on release until they decided to show it at Midnight and over time it turned into the ultimate cult movie experience whether it’s the edginess, the music, the costumes, the audiences simply everything. Strange Journey is a celebration of success and fun.

Time for the Timewarp. As Richard O’Brien says the story is as much your story as his.

“Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is a phenomenal documentary film. Serving as a love letter to the film. It’s a wonderful watch for both lovers of the film and newcomers to the world of Rocky Horror.” - Ayomide Asani; The Indiependent

“Adorable” Leslie Felperin– The Guardian

Featuring: Tim Curry; Susan Sarandon; Richard O’Brien; Jack Black etc.

Directed by Linus O’Brien

89 minutes

20/11/2025

Join us for the world premier of the Cockermouth Community Musical at the Christmas Lights Switch On this weekend!

Sunday, 23rd November, 1:30pm
Main Street, Cockermouth

Marking 80 years since the end of WWII, this free community musical is based on people's memories of living in the area during and after the war - including the VE Day celebrations when the Billy Bowman band played to the crowds from the roof of the air-raid shelter on Main Street.

Moving and powerful stories based on the memories of children who were evacuated to Cockermouth to escape the air-raids in the ship-building towns of the North East and who had to spend their first Christmas away from home.

Reminiscences of refugees who lived at Moota YMCA camp after the war ended, working on local farms, helping to rebuild the country after the hardships of wartime, who used music, dance and song to build connections and relationships with people living here.

Reflections from local residents on what 'Freedom' means to them today.

With storytelling with Jessie McMeekin and an uplifting new song written for the project by JP Worsfold, and arranged for choir by Dave Camlin, learned and sung by a scratch choir of local residents over this autumn.

1:30 - 1:50pm on the main stage on Main Street - FREE to all. No need to book, just turn up.

Kirkgate Arts and Heritage are a part of the Our Freedom: Then and Now project. Sixty arts centres and libraries across Britain are taking part in nationwide celebrations reflecting on what freedom means 80 years after the end of the Second World War.

We will also be performing the show indoors at The Kirkgate centre on the 14th December, 7pm book your tickets for that performance on our website.

Jessie McMeekin Storytelling J P Worsfold Wild Chorus

Address

The Kirkgate Centre, Kirkgate
Cockermouth
CA139PJ

Telephone

+441900829966

Website

https://kirkgateartsandheritage.org.uk/

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