The Lake District National Park Authority has announced the conclusion of its annual cultural event – Lakes Alive.

The popular arts festival has brought exciting art from the UK, and around the world to the streets of Kendal to inspire local communities and visitors and to help transform understanding of our landscapes. From giant humans to street dance, from Wolves to bhangra, the Lakes AliveFestival has welcomed over 100,000* visitors over the last four years.

Speaking about the conclusion of the Lakes Alive Festival, Kerry Powell commented:

‘We are extremely proud of the work that has been done by our Lakes Alive and National Park teams, working with Arts Council England and our partners to bring inspiring and transformational art and engagement to Kendal and the wider region.

We have now had the opportunity to consult with our funders and partners on the future direction of Lakes Aliveand to consider our own strategic goals as an Authority. We have decided that a programme on this scale is not something that the Authority can sustain into the future and we have made the decision to conclude our Lakes Alive programme in its current format.

In the new year we will start work on developing a new Lake District based cultural programme for our communities and visitors that will seek to enhance understanding about why this place is special and the issues that affect it.

We would like to thank the Lakes Alive Team, Arts Council England and all of our funding and cultural partners for their support to Lakes Alive over the last four years and we would also like to thank our volunteers, visitors and participants for their contributions to make the festival such a great event since 2016