South Lakes’ Artists’ Christmas Music May Inspire Charitable Support

Vocal chords around the southern Lake District and beyond are being warmed up for a Christmas musicathon, taking place over December weekends, at Levens Hall and Gardens.  

The historic home also hopes the feast of seasonal and festive music will increase support for a charitable cause, thanks to another initiative coinciding with the musical extravaganza.

‘Deck the Halls’ will typically see three or four musical ensembles, bands or groups performing each weekend in December, within the Hall at the Elizabethan house.  Here, a roaring fire will take away any chill, beautiful decorations will add to the Christmas ambience, and artists will be very at home in a room that already has a harpsichord taking pride of place.

Artists will be drawn from various towns and villages.  From Kendal, there will be Kendal Concert Band, Flutes & Co, Amabile choir and the Brewkulele Ensemble.  

The Sands Band will be representing Grange-over-Sands, Windermere will have the talent of the South Lakes Acappella band on show and the Sedbergh Town Band will be bringing music from the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The schedule will spread these brilliant performers across three weekends, starting on December 7.  The last performance will be on the afternoon of December 22.

However, it will not all be about music.  Local charity artist, Bob Sutcliffe, whose works have been on display at Levens Hall and Gardens all season, has produced works depicting winter scenes, especially for the event.  These will be situated in front of the house.

At the same time, there will be a raffling of one of the works displayed in the garden during the season, when Bob’s paintings were regularly refreshed, to ensure continuous interest in finding them within the gardens.  All money raised will be donated to Bob’s charity the Creative Health Trust, which funds creative therapies in hospices.  

Raffle tickets will be available at each Levens Hall and Gardens Christmas event and can also be purchased in the Levens gift shop.  Any ticket purchaser just needs to put their contact details on the back of each ticket they buy, before it enters the draw.  The raffle will be drawn at the conclusion of the December 22 event, which will feature Kendal Concert Band.

Anyone attending a Christmas event can also take a detour into the Topiary Garden – a Guinness World Record holder, as the oldest topiary garden in the world.  There, they can see over 100 pieces of topiary, of all shapes and sizes, silhouetted against the winter sky.

Should they need to warm up, both Levens Kitchen and the Levens Gift Shop will be open, as well as the Hall.  Quick takeaway bites to eat can be purchased from Levens Bakery.

Levens Hall and Gardens owner, Richard Bagot, says, “We are looking forward to welcoming passionate choirs, bands and singers from across the south of the county and right over to the Yorkshire border.  This provides a brilliant spectacle within the Hall and is truly in keeping with its Elizabethan heritage.  We also hope to raise money for the Creative Health Trust, both through raffle ticket sales amongst visitors but also from those who are shopping with us, on other dates, pre-Christmas.”

Head to www.levenshall.co.uk for more information.  There is no need to prebook.  Tickets, which cost £6.50 for an adult and £2 for a child aged 5 to 16, can be bought at the gate.                                                                                                               

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Editors notes

Levens Hall & Gardens is a historic house in the South Lakes, Cumbria, close to Kendal and home to the world's oldest topiary gardens, dating from 1694, created by French garden designer, Guillaume Beaumont. The Hall is a stunning Elizabethan house built around a 13th century pele tower and has close links to the Duke of Wellington, as well as various items which once belonged to him and Napoleon Bonaparte. Levens Park is home to the rare Bagot goats gifted to the Bagot family and a place in which to stroll and enjoy nature. Levens Kitchen is the contemporary new cafe, full of delights for cake lovers and foodies alike.