I was thrilled to be asked to provide media support to Slaithwaite’s wacky Moonraking Festival in February 2023. Every two years the streets of the West Yorkshire village of Slaithwaite are lit up by a gorgeous parade of hundreds of willow and paper lanterns created by villagers at lantern making workshops that run throughout half term week. I’ve always LOVED Moonraking ever since I first landed in West Yorkshire in 2004 so it’s been a treat to be part of the team that makes it all happen.
Yorkshire Life and Living North magazines
We got started early pitching Moonraking 2023 to glossy magazines leading to a beautiful feature piece in Yorkshire Life Magazine and website and a photo listing in Living North magazine and website, showcasing Chris Chinnock’s gorgeous photos from previous festivals.
Daily Telegraph!
A bit of beady eyed attention on Twitter led to the event getting listed in the Daily Telegraph’s “Guide to things to do in February half term without spending a fortune “
Yorkshire Post Saturday Magazine
On the first weekend of the week long festival lots of happy villagers were waving a copy of the Yorkshire Post, with a 4 page feature and cover image in its beautifully designed Saturday Magazine.
Huddersfield Hub
Throughout the run up to the festival and during festival week we had great support from Huddersfield Hub, Huddersfield’s lovely new hyper local news site who ran multiple pieces sharing news, updates and information
BBC Radio Leeds
Our friends at BBC Radio Leeds interviewed Gill Bond , Festival Director twice. Here is Richard Stead coming out to visit us all lantern making at the Watershed.
And here is an interview Gill gave to Andrew Edwards on BBC Radio Leeds, on the Saturday morning of the final procession.
A bit of afters…
Post event, Chris Chinnock’s lovely photos and our words featured in The Yorkshire Post , Huddersfield Hub, Huddersfield Examiner and the Yorkshire Times .
As they are so beautiful, here are a few more of Chris Chinnock’s lovely photos. You can see some more of his pictures from the event here
And here’s a fabulous film our friends at Kirklees Local TV (KLTV) made about Moonraking 2023 !
If you’re planning an event and would like some help to get some shiny PR like this get in touch. For glossy mags , we’d need to start work at least 4 months ahead of your event, but for newspapers and radio much shorter notice is possible. And for a really easy to sell story , like this one from my news page , I can help you get coverage at pretty much zero notice.
Head over to my contact page and say hello!