Events
Calendar of Events
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7 events,  Featured Experience more than 40 events with the Festival of Ideas Pass, giving access to live performances, films, talks, and workshops across town from 7–20 February 2026. Enjoy seamless entry, exclusive content, and the freedom to explore diverse cultural experiences — creativity, learning, and entertainment, all in one great-value pass. £49  Featured - Featured A traveller’s guide to understanding the role of lime in traditional buildings, its use in mortars, renders, plasters and limewashes, historical production in the locality Free -  Join instructor **Lucinda Gere** for an energising **Yoga Flow** session designed to build strength, mobility, and balance through mindful movement and breath. Suitable for all abilities, this one-hour class moves from warm-up to standing flow, finishing with deep stretches and relaxation — a rejuvenating experience for body, mind, and overall wellbeing. £12 -  Join Trish Phillips for a deeply supportive guided breathwork session designed to release tension, ease emotional overwhelm, and restore balance. Through gentle somatic awareness and mindful breathing, this 60-minute practice invites calm, clarity, and reconnection. A nurturing space to soften, let go, and come home to yourself — fully, as you are. £12 -  Join MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, Lizzi Collinge, and John Pye, Project Director for Eden Project North, in conversation with Dave Sapsford. They’ll explore the changing fortunes of our region and discuss how rural and coastal communities across the North West can work together to turn the economic tide in their favour. -  Welcome to ComedySportz, the all-ages, all-improvised competitive comedy show! Two teams battle it out with quick-witted games inspired by your suggestions, all overseen by a referee. Fast-paced, feel-good fun for everyone! With rave reviews and award wins across the UK, ComedySportz brings the weekend’s funniest fixture. Who wins? You decide!  Featured - Featured Best-selling author Lee Child will appear on stage at St Mary’s Church on the evening of Saturday 7 February in conversation with local debut author, Rachel Canwell. Lee will talk about his life and work before holding a book-signing session. |
7 events, -  Experience deep rest with Emma Gwillim’s Yoga Nidra, the yoga of sleep — a soothing, fully guided meditation to calm the mind and body. This 60-minute session combines gentle movement and relaxation to ease stress, improve sleep, and restore emotional balance, leaving you grounded, peaceful, and deeply rejuvenated. Bring blankets and cushions. -  Join Kat Delaney for a dreamy sound bath using alchemy crystal bowls, drum, and chime to promote deep rest and energetic balance. Beginning with gentle breath and awareness practices, this soothing session helps release tension and restore calm — perfect for busy minds seeking peace, renewal, and quiet connection to the body. £12 -  Join local author Rachel Canwell for a creative flash fiction workshop inspired by this year’s theme, Futures: Real and Imagined. Explore ‘Sliding Doors’ moments and reimagine how life might change with a single choice. No experience needed — just curiosity and imagination! Participants can share their stories at the True Stories evening. -  Join Trish Phillips for a small, nurturing nature-based art and storytelling workshop designed for Key Stage 2 children (7–11). Through mindful breathwork, storytelling, and creative art-making, children explore emotions, balance, and connection with nature. A gentle, imaginative session encouraging reflection, resilience, and calm. Children must be accompanied by an adult.  Featured - Featured Interstellar is an epic science fiction film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan. It features an ensemble cast led by Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain -  Award-winning Newfoundland folk group Rum Ragged, 2021 JUNO nominees, bring their acclaimed blend of rich harmonies, virtuoso musicianship, and captivating storytelling to the stage. £15 |
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2 events, -  Join Jayne Davies for an evening of live storytelling on the theme Sliding Doors. Share your true story of choices, chances, and what-ifs — or simply come and listen. From life-changing moments to everyday decisions, all stories are welcome. A warm, welcoming evening of honesty, humour, and human connection at Illuminate Festival. Free |
2 events,  Featured - Featured Bottle & Brush’ workshop - Designed to celebrate the beautiful landscapes around our glorious market town that provided inspiration for renowned artists like JMW Turner. Open to any ability, this relaxed and supportive session is packed with practical tips, demonstrations and expert guidance |
3 events,  Featured - Featured Join author Mark Bridgeman as he explores ‘The Dark Side of the Dales’. His fascinating book details 21 true stories of murder, mystery and robbery from in and around the Yorkshire Dales Free -  Join Blue Badge Guide Tess Pike for a fascinating tour of St Mary’s Church, uncovering its hidden history from Saxon fragments to Norman architecture. Discover the impressive west-end piers, the exquisite east window, and the stories behind Kirkby Lonsdale’s ancient parish church. Booking essential as places are limited to 20 participants. £5 |
3 events,  Featured - Featured Using your smartphone camera, Ginny will offer tips and techniques to capture quirky details, create experimental images and celebrate the subjects you're drawn to as you walk around Kirkby Lonsdale. -  Four iconic films. Four disciplines. One mystery: love. Explore the psychology of attraction, the biochemistry of desire, the data behind decision-making, and the bittersweet pull of unrequited longing. From When Harry Met Sally to Casablanca, journey through science, strategy, and emotion to understand why we fall, ache, and choose. Free |
2 events, -  The fizz flows and the jazz is swinging — until one cocktail proves fatal. Step into the roaring twenties for a night of glitz, intrigue, and deception. Can you unravel the clues, catch the killer, and avoid becoming the next beautiful little fool in this dazzling murder mystery of cocktails and crime? £15 |
6 events, -  We’ve plus-sized Kirkby Lonsdale’s Repair Café with eco-focused activities and workshops from Lancaster University. Bring broken appliances, wonky clocks, or torn clothing for help with repairs, and join discussions on the challenges of the twenty-first century and how we can imagine a better future. Enjoy tea, coffee, and cakes in our friendly café. - Join Trish Phillips for a deeply supportive guided breathwork session designed to release tension, ease emotional overwhelm, and restore balance. Through gentle somatic awareness and mindful breathing, this 60-minute practice invites calm, clarity, and reconnection. A nurturing space to soften, let go, and come home to yourself — fully, as you are. £12  Featured - Featured Join debut author Rachel Canwell in conversation with Jayne Davies as she discusses her haunting WWI-era novel set in the Fens. Inspired by the true story of a hospital that never opened, it’s a powerful tale of love, loss, and the ghosts that bind three women to the past. - Experience deep rest with Emma Gwillim’s Yoga Nidra, the yoga of sleep — a soothing, fully guided meditation to calm the mind and body. This 60-minute session combines gentle movement and relaxation to ease stress, improve sleep, and restore emotional balance, leaving you grounded, peaceful, and deeply rejuvenated. Bring blankets and cushions. £12 -  Celebrate Valentine’s night with the irresistible rhythms of Poco Besos. This dynamic live band transforms chart hits into Latin-infused grooves bursting with energy, flair, and passion. Expect soaring horns, soulful vocals, and infectious beats that make it impossible to stay still — a performance to lift every heart and fill the dance floor. |
7 events, - Join instructor **Lucinda Gere** for an energising **Yoga Flow** session designed to build strength, mobility, and balance through mindful movement and breath. Suitable for all abilities, this one-hour class moves from warm-up to standing flow, finishing with deep stretches and relaxation — a rejuvenating experience for body, mind, and overall wellbeing. - Join Kat Delaney for a dreamy sound bath using alchemy crystal bowls, drum, and chime to promote deep rest and energetic balance. Beginning with gentle breath and awareness practices, this soothing session helps release tension and restore calm — perfect for busy minds seeking peace, renewal, and quiet connection to the body.  Featured - Featured Join us on a geological journey to discover how limestone has shaped the character of the town. The walk will start at Devil’s Bridge where we will take a close look at the limestone outcrops near the bridge and hopefully find some fossils. We will then walk along the riverbank, up Mill Brow and finish at St Mary’s Church. Free -  Join Richard Shilling and Land Art for Kids for a special Foresty afternoon of creative nature art. Make beautiful, ephemeral sculptures from leaves and natural materials in this relaxed drop-in workshop for ages 4 and up. Explore, play, and create outdoors — or indoors if the weather turns! No experience needed.  Featured - Featured An expedition braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a groundbreaking medical breakthrough. -  Join Schoolhouse Productions for a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud romp through Jane Austen’s beloved works. In just 80 minutes, three plucky actors bring to life her heroines, heroes, and cutting social satire. A witty, big-hearted comedy that delights both devoted Janeites and newcomers alike — a true celebration of Austen’s timeless charm and humour. £15 |
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3 events,  Featured - Featured Emma Smallshaw is passionate about the power of books and developing a lifelong love of reading in children. ‘Our Kingdom of Blue’ is the first in a series of books inspired by her love of nature and the beauty of the Lake District, Free -  Deepfake technology can create convincing fake content of anyone, enabling political disinformation, financial fraud, and sexual digital forgeries. In this talk, Dr Sophie Nightingale explores her research into the realism and trustworthiness of AI-generated faces. Sophie, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Lancaster University, studies how technology intersects with human cognition and behaviour. Free |
5 events,  Featured - Featured Hands-on workshop exploring the art of pressing flowers. Janet will share how she presses and preserves plant material grown in her garden at the Old Vicarage, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  Featured - Featured Join our friendly physics students for a hands-on science adventure packed with exciting demonstrations, surprising experiments and plenty of ‘wow!’ moments. This interactive session lets children discover how science works through play. -  The Curious Dance Academy presents a contemporary performance inspired by our young dancers’ dreams, ambitions, and hopes for the future. Choreographed by Megan Alder-Cox with the dancers, this uplifting showcase comes to the Illuminate Festival. Free to attend; donations welcome towards their Disneyland Paris trip. Two 15-minute shows at 7pm and 7.30pm  Featured - Featured Based on a bittersweet, philosophical story from Stephen King, The Life of Chuck is a life-affirming, genre-bending story told in three parts in reverse |
5 events, -  For ten years the micro:bit has been a powerhouse of innovation in computer science education, with over 70 million children assisted, and over 11 million devices distributed globally. In this interactive workshop we discover the micro:bit story, Get Tickets Free  Featured - Featured The Wild Robot: An intelligent robot—Roz is stranded when she crash-lands on an uninhabited island. She overrides her programming to assist the animals around her, in particular a gosling, whose mother she crushed in an accident. - Join Blue Badge Guide Tess Pike for a fascinating tour of St Mary’s Church, uncovering its hidden history from Saxon fragments to Norman architecture. Discover the impressive west-end piers, the exquisite east window, and the stories behind Kirkby Lonsdale’s ancient parish church. Booking essential as places are limited to 20 participants. £5  Featured - Featured Join experienced photographer Pete Collins for a free nightscape photography workshop exploring how to capture the beauty of the night sky. Learn about equipment, settings, and editing, then head outdoors for a practical session overlooking Ruskin’s View (weather permitting). Bring your camera and discover the art of landscape photography after dark. Get Tickets Free |
6 events, Featured - Featured Using your smartphone camera, Ginny will offer tips and techniques to capture quirky details, create experimental images and celebrate the subjects you're drawn to as you walk around Kirkby Lonsdale. -  Join us for a free half-term crafts session with a stars and dark skies theme. Enjoy creative fun for children and families, and decorate your bike with LED lights ready for the Little Star event and starlit cycle procession later that afternoon. -  Join us for a magical candlelit storytelling session created for Illuminate 2026. Children and their adults are invited to enjoy an enchanting tale, then take part in a starlit cycle procession around the church, with bikes glowing under twinkling LED lights. Free -  As the festival draws to a close, join us for a night of music with local band The Usuals. Featuring Joe Finney, Nigel Davies, Geoff Coulson, Amanda Ross, and Chris Worsley, they deliver rock, indie, and pop favourites from AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses to The Killers and Taylor Swift, all with their signature twist.  Featured - Featured A Chinese American laundromat owner discovers she's the key to the multiverse, capable of accessing skills and knowledge from her alternate selves. |
4 events,  Featured - Featured Join Blue Badge Guide Tess Pike and go exploring the old drovers’ route. Discover Andy Goldsworthy’s illuminating collection of reimagined sheepfolds along the way. -  Join us for an immersive family theatre experience aboard a vintage bus in Kirkby’s Market Square. This 30-minute audio adventure from Ragged Edge Productions runs at 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm (no 1pm show while the driver has lunch). Free to attend—just turn up. The bus remains stationary throughout. -  Black Liver return with a riotous, interactive game show all about you! Hosts Ruth and Keith quiz the audience on local history, stories, and quirks, blending humour, satire, and community spirit. Whether you join in or simply enjoy the fun, expect laughter, surprises, and sharp wit in this Festival of Ideas finale. |
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