The New Mills Festival needs your support. Please sign and share this petition to help save the Lantern Procession!

For over 20 years the people of New Mills along with friends from the High Peak and beyond have come together to provide the community run New Mills Festival. 

The festival is a wide celebration of culture, community and arts supported by volunteers, local businesses, performers, and artists which runs over two weeks in September. Every year the town is transformed into a vibrant hub of artistic endeavours, cultural happenings, and family fun. The festival includes many large and small fringe experiences and celebrations throughout the two weeks of which undoubtably for many the main highlight is the Lantern Procession and Street Party.

The Lantern Procession takes place in a truly unique setting, The Torrs, a 75-foot gorge cut deep under the town. Also known as ‘The park under the town’ this location is the where the confluence of the rivers Sett and Goyt meet. These rivers have shaped the local valleys and in days gone by provided the energy needed to power the very mills that gave rise to the town of New Mills itself. Today they help shape the return of the natural beauty. The Lantern Procession takes visitors through this stunning landscape, also featuring the wonderful Millennium Walkway bridge.

Previous processions have seen stunning lanterns made by individuals and groups of all shapes and sizes. With volunteer run workshops bringing the community together, building skills and promoting the very town itself. 

2022 saw the return of our much-loved Festival following the pandemic but with one big absence, the Lantern Procession. This means that it’s now been over three years since the last running of this event which requires considerable effort, organisation and support both by volunteers and financially. 

We’re asking for a show of hands to save the Lantern Procession! Signing this petition will allow for the festival committee to bring to light just how much this event means to the local community, local businesses and those who travel to visit New Mills for what is a truly special event.

This petition shall be used in support of grant applications to help with funding and will help convince key decision makers of the value that the Lantern Procession and the entire New Mills Festival provides to our local community. Please share with friends and family, every signature makes a difference, the return of this unique event really is at risk without your support! Thank you!