Free online festival to bring music, dance, yoga and more to Preston’s homes

A free online festival kicks off this weekend to keep people connected, active and entertained at home.

Living City will stream live activities including music, yoga and mental health discussions from the homes of local Preston experts throughout lockdown.

The festival, organised by They Eat Culture and Mandala Yoga and Wellbeing, will be hosted on the Living City Facebook page.

This weekend’s schedule includes Zumba, street dance and meditation. Future weekends will include tutorials on drawing, hairstyling, mocktail and cocktail making, sewing, making and playing a drum and more.

Emma Lowther-Wright from Mandala Yoga and Wellbeing said the team wants to help people enjoy the activities they miss while having the chance to try new ones.

She said: “We are social animals who need to feel connected to others, we need to move our bodies, we need music and art to flourish. We feel that although we are physically distant, we can still be socially connected and we wanted to create this Facebook page and festival to enable that.”

As well as joining in with the activities, people are encouraged to get involved with the Living City project by sharing photos and videos from their lives right now.

Ruth Heritage from They Eat Culture said: “We are creating a website documenting the real-life lockdown experiences of people in PR postcodes. We don’t want our story in the future to be one told from a London or Manchester perspective, we want there to be a local story told for us to look back on.

“We want people from all walks of life, from key workers to isolators, people who love lockdown, people whose lives haven’t changed much, and people who have been very affected. Your stories are important to us.”

To get involved, send a message on the Living City Facebook page or email ruth@theyeatculture.org.

The organisers are also looking for people who have skills to share to host a workshop or take part in an online discussion. For more information, email info@theyeatculture.org.

This weekend’s Living City schedule

Saturday

10am-10:20am: Chair Yoga with Alison from Mandala Yoga and Wellbeing
12pm-12.15pm: Healthy Body and Mind – Suzy Smith from NHS Recovery College outlines the free programmes available to help support wellbeing
2pm-2.45pm: Living Room Street Dance Tutorial with DooWop Dance School
4pm-4.20pm: Guided Deep Relaxation with Alison from Mandala Yoga and Wellbeing
6pm-6.15pm: Mental Wellbeing Tips from counsellor Nick Brownjohn
7pm-8pm: Live Acoustic Set with Hannah and Alex Lord

Sunday

12pm-12.45pm: Ballroom in your Living Room with Tina from DooWop Dance School
2pm-2.40pm: Question and Answer Session with Extinction Rebellion
4pm-4.30pm: Zumba with Emelina
6pm-6.30pm: Guided Deep Relaxation and Loving Kindness Meditation with Emma from Mandala Yoga and Wellbeing

Will you be attending the festival? Let us know in the comments.