Testimonials

I remember fondly our time at the Kirkgate a couple of years ago, the warm and intimate atmosphere and the friendly welcome.

Kiki Dee

 The Kirkgate is my ideal venue. Intimate and warm, staffed by passionate folks who really care about The Arts and about their local community. It has a beating heart, even more so due to the eager enthusiastic volunteers who help run it.

Snake Davis

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Cockermouth and had a great evening at the Kirkgate, the venue and staff were fantastic. We look forward to returning sometime in the future.

Kevin Morris & Dr Feelgood

My husband and I are internationally touring, award-winning singer-songwriters based in Canada. We had the wonderful opportunity of performing an acoustic concert at the lovely Kirkgate during one of our UK tours. The Kirkgate remains one of our favourite stages and venue spaces. A lovely atmosphere and acoustics. The sound system was good and the theatre manager made sure we were well taken care of. The venue is absolutely gorgeous and is a key geographical location for artists en route from Manchester to Glasgow.

Tia McGraff

FARA had a fantastic experience performing at the Kirkgate …. The staff were wonderful and the venue itself was beautiful.  We were fortunate enough to have a sell-out show. The atmosphere was incredibly positive.

Kristan Harvey & FARA

We love the Kirkgate and I have booked artists into your lovely venue for years –   through floods and pestilence! (Playpen Management & Agency / English Folk Expo)

Terry O'Brien

What a beautiful venue Kirkgate in Cockermouth is. I played there with my band in 2018, the final night of our tour. It’s a really lovely place to play with great sound and a lovely vibe. It feels warm and welcoming for musicians and audience alike.

Rachael McShane & The Cartographers

I had a fantastic time doing the workshop and event at the Kirkgate yesterday. In one of my many chats with my colleague between the workshop and the evening event he said something which really struck me, and I wanted to pass it on.

He told me how lucky Cockermouth was to have an arts centre like the Kirkgate. He was saying that they have nothing like it where he’s based, that enables and generates work with local artists and creatives. He was full of praise for the way he could see the Kirkgate giving opportunities to local artists and creatives, as well as creating a platform for community engagement and creativity.

What he said made me realise that – although I’ve always been incredibly glad that the Kirkgate exists, and it’s one of my favourite things about Cockermouth – it’s not until you hear about the gap that’s left in places which don’t have an equivalent that the real value of the work the Kirkgate does hits home.

I wanted to pass on these reflections because I know there must be hundreds of challenges to overcome and endless problems to solve in running a place like the Kirkgate, and here’s an artist with 30 years experience of doing community arts projects all over the world singing the praises of the art centre on our doorstep.

So hurrah for the Kirkgate, and please know how much the work that the Kirkgate team of staff, volunteers and trustees does is immensely important and valued.

A visiting artist

After a visit to our Youth Theatre, Liz said ‘It was great being at the Kirkgate, what an inspiring end to the week that was! ‘

Lee said ‘thank you again for welcoming us all into the Kirkgate Youth Theatre. Not only was it a stunning building but the bravery, honesty and authenticity of the group of young people we met there, has stayed with me and will inform the play invaluably. ‘

Liz Stephenson from Theatre by the Lake and Associate Artist Lee Mattinson