I know a lot of cultural people, a lot of people into good music and theatre, and a lot of people with little money. You'd really have thought more of them would pop to Huddersfield for one Monday in November when the music festival showcases some of the best contemporary music for FREE.
My third pick of the year has to be the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Monday, gig after gig after gig from eleven in the morning to well after I have to scoot for the last train home. Just getting off the train is an awesome experience, with a stunning façade opening onto a heart-lifting square. It is with such bemusement that Bolton Council, when offered an opportunity to create an entrance to the town that could be just a striking, have gone for their transport hub which will only say to visitors that they've made some horrendous mistake.
And then Huddersfield has a fine selection of concert halls and gig spaces that are thrilling to move between for each set and comfortable to spend time in absorbing the music.
But this year especially I was blown away by Jennifer Walshe, who's writing was brave and evocative and who's performance was inspiring. It was the final set I caught this year, and partly because if I had to leave early I was glad to leave on a high. It was a world I'd had some insight into (and some fellow performers at the First Oxo Conference in July were powerfully in their own right) and yet I was taken to a new standard and I have no doubt she will continue to inform by work for some time yet.
Tremendous stuff.
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