Hebden Bridge Festival

An annual highlight for the Calder Valley, Hebden Bridge Arts Festival brings the best national and international artists and performers to the area each summer for a celebration of comedy, music, dance, drama, literature and visual arts.

Listed as the fourth funkiest town in the world, and a haven for writers and authors, Hebden Bridge is one of our favourite festivals. 2016 sees the 23rd consecutive annual gathering with poets, comedians, fiction-writers,dramatists, live artists and musicians from the world stage. Exhibitions, free street entertainment and a Fringe Festival all add spice.

Yes, yes. We know it's a thin, nay barely visible, literary stream, but heh it's Hebden Bridge and excellent fun.

When? Friday 24th June until Sunday 3rd July, 2016

Where? Various venues around Hebden, west of Bradford.

Who? TBA

Festival Website: www.hebdenbridgeartsfestival.co.uk Tel: 01422 842684

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HEBDEN BRIDGE TOURIST INFO

Known as the "Pennine Centre", Hebden Bridge takes its name from the packhorse bridge over Hebden Water. The town developed in late medieval times as a river-crossing and meeting point of packhorse routes from Halifax to Heptonstall, Burnley and Rochdale.

Textiles have been important in the Upper Calder Valley for centuries, but it was not until mechanisation and steam power were introduced from the late 18th century that Hebden Bridge began to grow significantly.

The arrival of the canal and railway attracted industry to the valley bottoms, but with limited flat land and a growing army of textile workers, dwellings were ingeniously built on the valley sides, giving the town its characteristic "double-decker" housing.

Hebden Bridge has seen great change in recent years. Traditional industries are no longer a major force, but buildings have been stone-cleaned and revitalised, the Rochdale Canal has been restored, and the locality has become a desirable place to live and visit.