Slaithwaite village window art festival returns

Illuminated art work has taken over the windows of a West Yorkshire village.

Slaithwaite's Moonraking Festival is usually held every two years, however the 2021 festival had to change due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of lantern-making and a procession, villagers decorated their windows with illuminated art

It proved so successful the organisers decided to repeat the event ahead of the return of the usual festival in 2023.

Last year, more than 400 windows were decorated and the festival organisers also created a street ambassador scheme.

The ambassadors delivered the supplies needed to help householders create their images.

Festival Director Gill Bond said: "The Covid lockdown meant we had to reach people to participate in a different way … and the role of street ambassador was born."

She said this year they have an ambassador for all 61 of Slaithwaite's streets, with "local people inspiring and supporting each other in this great creative endeavour".

The scheme has helped people forge new relationships according to Alison Eastwood, the street ambassador for Springfield Crescent, who said the lockdowns had been lonely and isolating.

"It gave me the opportunity to meet lots of new people including neighbours I'd never met or spoken to before," she said.

The festival celebrates an 18th Century legend where smugglers caught red-handed with their bootleg barrels in the Huddersfield Narrow Canal outwitted the militia by claiming to be "raking the moon" from the canal.

The event runs until 27 February.

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