This year’s festival has been inspired by ‘When the Boat Comes In’, in celebration of hosting Tall Ships 2023. This weekend marks exactly a year from Tall Ships, and we’ve put together a programme inspired by arrivals, hellos, welcomes and reunions – it is the feeling of coming home after a long time away.
In Finding Nemo and Dory, we meet fish who return home.
In Ceilidh Jam, we will dance like we do at weddings, and with the Voguers we’ll dance like we do in clubs.
In paint, we’ll make our mark, take up space and ensure our voices are heard.
We will hear stories of how to protect our rivers, seas and homes.
We will meet creatives in our arts market.
In Murmurations, we’ll look through a magnifying glass at one of our hidden gems – North Gare.
At Gaia, we’ll zoom out.
When the boat comes in, we are home.
Our two-day festival of maritime creativity takes place in the heart of Hartlepool Marina and will feature a jam-packed programme of open-air performances, immersive experiences, family-friendly activities and installations. After scaling back the workshop element last year due to Covid-19, the festival’s programme of workshops will return, which previously engaged with over 3,500 children and young people in 2019.
The fifth Hartlepool Waterfront Festival which takes place exactly one year before the Tall Ships Races comes to Hartlepool in July 2023, will be themed ‘When The Boat Comes in’, exploring connotations of arrival, departures, welcomes and goodbyes. The festival’s theme also references the official closure of the usual site before building begins on Highlight, a destination leisure centre.
This year’s festival programme will also witness a spectacular replica of planet Earth as internationally renowned Luke Jerram returns to Hartlepool this July, bringing his touring artwork ‘Gaia’ to a secret location within the town, allowing visitors to gaze upon the earth as if from space. Luke exhibited at last year’s Waterfront Festival, at a pop-up site in Seaton Park, and most recently in Durham Cathedral with the Museum of the Moon.
This year’s Hartlepool Waterfront Festival will be unticketed and will once again be a Pay What You Decide outdoor arts festival. Visitors will be able to make anonymous donations based on their experience of the event and all donated monies will go towards commissioning extra children’s activities at next year’s festival.
