The Hannells Darley Park Concert is the highlight of an amazing August Bank Holiday weekend of events

After a year of disruption to live events, Derby’s famous Hannells Darley Park Concert returns on Sun 29 Aug and for the first time, it will be the highlight of a Bank Holiday weekend of outdoor family entertainment.

 

Kickstarting the weekend on Fri 27 Aug is Classic Ibiza, a celebration of the sounds of the Balearics for all the family. Then on Sat 28 Aug Darley Park’s natural ampitheatre becomes an outdoor cinema for screenings of Frozen II and Singalonga The Greatest Showman. All events will be run in line with the guidelines in place for live outdoor entertainment following the COVID pandemic.

 

Classical music and fireworks return on Sun 29 Aug as this year’s Hannells Darley Park Concert celebrates 300 years of Derby’s Silk Mill – the world’s first factory – as it prepares to re-open as the Museum of Making. There will also be a special tribute to the NHS & Key workers as part of the programme. The event is sponsored by Hannells Estate Agents, Flint Bishop Solicitors, HUUB, Mortgage Advice Bureau, Stratstone BMW and MINI Derby and WDS.

 

Hannells Darley Park Concert is one of the UK’s biggest outdoor classical concerts, and one of Derby’s favourite summer events. Presented by Derby LIVE, Grammy-nominated and RPS award-winning orchestra Sinfonia Viva, supported by Rolls-Royce will perform innovative and historically important music inspired by the theme of engineering, science and technology, ending with a spectacular firework finale.

 

Photo credit Robert Day

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Marianne Baraclough from Sinfonia Viva said “Sinfonia Viva are very excited to be returning to Darley Park for another show stopping year at this celebrated event. We will be performing well known classics, beautiful stirring numbers and quirky pieces that might take you by surprise. 2021’s theme is built around the exciting reopening of Derby Silk Mill and the celebration of Derby’s 300-year history of technological innovation. Expect fireworks both musical and literal this year, as the orchestra returns in inspired form.”

 

Conductor James Holmes, a Darley Park Concert regular, makes a welcome return to the stage, proving why he has been so instrumental in making this evening of stirring music one of the most anticipated events in the East Midlands calendar.

 

After a very successful collaboration over the last two years the concert has once again joined forces with BBC Radio Derby. This year some of Derby’s favourite radio presenters will be taking to the stage, hosting the Concert and entertaining the crowds.

 

Councillor Robin Wood, Derby City Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism, said: “This year’s Hannells Darley Park Concert promises to be an awe-inspiring celebration of the 300^th anniversary of the world’s first factory, right here in Derby. I look forward to music to celebrate the city’s industrial heritage and spark the imagination in the way the Silk Mill did so many years ago. It’s fantastic we have been able to make it bigger and better than ever before with the Classic Ibiza event on the Friday, Outdoor Cinema on Saturday followed by the Hannells Darley Park Concert on the Sunday. It’s a real weekend of cultural activities making the bank holiday celebrations better than ever.”

 

Once again, the Hannells Darley Park Concert is supported by local businesses which have the city at their heart. These are: Hannells, the family-run, award-winning estate agents; UK top 200 law firm Flint Bishop Solicitors; HUUB, specialists in performance wetsuits and apparel as worn by Olympic medallists; Stratstone BMW and MINI, Derby, part of the UK’s leading luxury automotive retailer; and WDS, suppliers of managed print services and document management solutions to businesses for 16 years.

 

 

Tickets are on sale now for just £4 for adults and £1 for under 16s when you book before 31 July. After this, tickets will cost £6 for adults and £3.50 for under 16s when booked in advance. On the day, tickets will cost from £8.50 for adults and £3.50 for under 16s. So a family of 2 adults and 2 children under 16 can make huge savings by booking early. For more details, see derbylive.co.uk.

 

Join the Classic Ibiza party on Fri 27 Aug as the Urban Soul Orchestra, DJ Goldierocks and a host of critically acclaimed vocalists bring a heady blend of Balearic beats to life in the beautiful grounds of Darley Park. All the family are guaranteed a night to remember. Gates open at 4pm with a warm-up DJ at 6pm, the first Sundowner set at 7.45pm, and a second Dance set with lasers at 9.15pm. Tickets are priced from £41 to £52 with under 16s tickets priced £22 to £27 and under 5s going free.

 

The heady sounds of Ibiza give way to fun family films on Sat 28 Aug. In Frozen 2 (U), follow the continuing adventures of sisters Anna and Elsa, and their friends Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, as Elsa faces a dangerous but remarkable journey. Gates open at 12 noon with the film starting at 1.45pm. Tickets are £14, and free for the under 2s with customers able to save up to £12 on a family ticket.

Look out ‘cause here it comes… from the producers of Singalonga Sound of Music and Singalonga GREASE, comes the smash hit film The Greatest Showman (PG), with lyrics on screen that everyone can’t stop singing. Cheer on Hugh Jackman, lust after Zac Efron, and sing your heart out with our live host who will teach you some dance moves and show you how to use your free props bag. Please note this is a screening of the film, not a live stage show. Gates open at 4pm with a pre-show warm up at 5pm. The film starts at 5.30pm. Tickets cost £18 for adults and £16 for under 16s with under 2s going free.

 

Book tickets for all events online at derbylive.co.uk or call our Sales and Information Centre on 01332 255800.  You can also book and save with the Derby LIVE LIVE Saver ticket deal – book all 4 and save £20%, book 3 and save 15% or 2 and save 10%. This great offer can also be booked alongside your tickets for Pantomime Sleeping Beauty.

 

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For further information, please contact:

Alyson Koe

Tel: 07827 821662

[email protected]

For general media enquiries please contact Corporate Communications:

Tel: 01332 643500

Out of hours: 07812 300168

Notes to editors:

Biography: James Holmes

A former staff conductor for English National Opera and Head of Music for Opera North, James Holmes is now a freelance conductor, accompanist and arranger.

Alongside an operatic repertoire that encompasses everything from Mozart to contemporary world premières, he has maintained a lifelong interest in musical theatre and has played a significant part in its adoption by opera houses in the UK: notable successes include Street Scene, Pacific Overtures (also a Grammy-nominated recording) for English National Opera; Into The Woods (Royal Opera House); Seven Deadly Sins, One Touch of Venus, Arms and The Cow, Paradise Moscow, Carousel, Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods (Opera North); Sweeney Todd, Kiss Me, Kate (Welsh National Opera). As associate music director, he was in charge of well over a hundred performances of the celebrated Royal National Theatre production of Carousel. He conducted The King and I at the Chatelet in Paris and Street Scene for its Berlin première, as well as a critically acclaimed DVD.

Concert work includes appearances with the Halle, London Symphony, London Sinfonietta and the Montreal Symphony, with a wide range of artists, from Bryn Terfel and Willard White to Patti Smith and Grizzly Bear. He has served as musical assistant to Simon Rattle at the Metropolitan Opera New York, at the Aix and Salzburg Festivals, and at Glyndebourne – notably the legendary production of Porgy and Bess.

The music of Kurt Weill is a particular longtime interest and enthusiasm -  he serves on the Board of Trustees of the Kurt Weill Foundation, New York, and has conducted as wide a range of Weill’s music as anyone in the world; this year he became only the seventh-ever recipient of the Foundation's Lifetime Achievement award for his services to the composer. Recent work includes hugely acclaimed new productions of Weill's Street Scene (Opera North) and Silverlake (English Touring Opera); a successful 2019 debut at the Vienna Volksoper with Bernstein's Wonderful Town has led to invitations to return for 2021/2. James has been appearing with Viva for more than a decade, and is always pleased to find Darley Park in the diary!