Hirst Festival

A free mini festival for children, young people, families and the community - full of fun, creativity and community spirit.

Across Winter 2025, we brought creativity and sparkle to Ashington at Hirst Festival. Folks enjoyed lots of events with creative activities, family fun, a themed silent disco, a magical light installation, a family pop up cinema, and loads of opportunities for the community to come together and have fun.

Hirst Festival was all about having fun, trying something new for free, and embracing the magic of winter!

Hirst Festival brought people together in a big way, engaging 1,593 people overall, with 1,007 attending the Mortal Fools events programme.

At its heart, the festival was about creating welcoming, creative opportunities for Ashington residents, while also drawing 170 day visitors into the town and introducing many people to Hirst Welfare for the very first time. The space was alive with curiosity, connection, and shared experiences across generations.

Our Melva screening day for schools was a real highlight, engaging two local Ashington primary schools and giving young people the chance to experience storytelling and creativity together.

The festival also supported the local creative economy, providing 19 days of paid work for 12 local freelancers. Six Ashington-based businesses supplied services for the events, alongside four regional businesses, and resources were sourced locally wherever possible.

Six brilliant young volunteers aged 10–15 supported the Mortal Fools events, playing an important role in welcoming audiences and helping the programme run smoothly—bringing energy, enthusiasm, and pride to everything they did.

“Hirst Fest was a joyful celebration of Ashington’s creativity and community spirit. Our team loved meeting new faces and seeing people come together. The outdoor artwork was a beautiful way to welcome those who were new to Mortal Fools and invite them to feel part of something special. This is just the start; we’re excited to build on this momentum with more events that connect, inspire creativity, and share experiences with and for our community.”

Ellie Turner Mortal Fools Executive Director

Hirst Festival Programme – November to December 2025

Hirst Festival was produced by Ashington-based creative children’s charity Mortal Fools in partnership with Hirst Welfare Centre and supported by Ashington Family Hub and Full Circle Food Project. It engaged 1593 people.

Hirst Festival was part of Northumberland County Council’s Animating Ashington Autumn/Winter Festival – a programme of cultural events across the town being funded by UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and North East Combined Authority, with the North East Combined Authority as lead authority. #UKSPF #FundedUKGovernment #NorthEastCA

It was brilliant to bring our community together for #HirstFestival

Download the programme to see what folks got up to across the festival

Here's what our Hirst Festival attendees thought.......

“Fantastic morning for family memories. Staff were so friendly and helpful. Our children haven’t stopped smiling.”
“This needs to be an annual event!”
“Would be lovely to see more of this in Ashington. My daughter loved it.”
“I had a really fun time drawing; there was loads to do, worth it and it was free!”
“Fantastic opportunity to spend time with children away from screens. The smiles on their faces were priceless.”
“Loads of fun filled activities with polite and friendly staff. My daughter really enjoyed learning how to create different crafts.”
“Lovely event with a great atmosphere.”
“Really nice to have a Christmassy event that is a bit different and provides simple creative activities that everybody can enjoy and join in with!”
“We really enjoyed this event – it was amazing.”

“Following the success of Hirst Festival, which was made so special by the creativity, energy, and enthusiasm of the Ashington community, we’re excited to be planning even more free events and activities in 2026 for children, young people, families, and the wider community.

The Ashington community continues to inspire everything we do, and we can’t wait to create more memorable moments together.”

Helen Ferguson - Mortal Fools Creative Producer

Hirst Winter Festival Partners

Hirst Festival was produced by Ashington-based creative children’s charity Mortal Fools in partnership with Hirst Welfare Centre and supported by Ashington Family Hub and Full Circle Food Project.

Mortal Fools is an award-winning creative learning charity. We run free activities all year round in Ashington for children, young people, families, and the community, including:

Free weekly youth theatre groups for ages 5-19
Free creative community workshops
Performances, live events, films and resources

Hirst Welfare Centre is a welcoming, community-run facility in the heart of Ashington. Hirst Welfare Centre exists to build a healthier, more connected, and inclusive Ashington.

In addition to being a host festival venue and collaborating on various event, Mortal Fools will be supporting the team to increase their capabilities around marketing and event production.

“We loved working with Mortal Fools on Hirst Festival. Together, we opened our doors and welcomed the local community throughout autumn and winter, especially Ashington families and young people, for lots of festive fun and seasonal activities. We learnt so much through the collaboration and really enjoyed working in partnership. It was great to see Hirst Welfare filled with laughter, positivity, and the community coming together, and we can’t wait to do more together in the future.”

Helen Rae - Hirst Welfare Community Engagement and Fundraising Officer

Ashington Family Hub sits at the heart of the Ashington community providing support, advice, resources and family events, with midwives, health visitors, early years and mental health professionals on hand. The Family Hub is a host festival venue and audience development partner.

Full Circle Food offers hands on cooking experiences and education for all ages from families with young children to older people in Ashington and beyond.

Stellar Creates is a community interest organisation with over 40 years’ experience of producing high quality cultural projects and events, specialising in outdoor arts. They will be supporting the programme with a light installation and supporting Mortal Fools production and producing team to feel more confident in larger scale, outdoor arts activity.

Animating Ashington Autumn/Winter Festival

Hirst Festival was part of a wider programme of events happening across Ashington from October – December.

Our friends at Ashington Town Council, Full Circle Food, Pride Action North & Woodhorn were also running events and activities.

Hirst Festival was part of Northumberland County Council's Animating Ashington Autumn/Winter Festival - a programme of cultural events across the town being funded by UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and North East Combined Authority, with the North East Combined Authority as lead authority. #UKSPF #FundedUKGovernment #NorthEastCA