Lights Out festival is here

Mackem monsters to return as part of Sunderland’s Lights Out festival…

22 - 31 October

Celebrating the spookiest time of year, Lights Out festival returns with a vengeance for 2021 as Sunderland BID celebrate Halloween in style from 22 to 31 October. Here’s everything you need to know as fright season whistles into the city centre for a devishly good time…

10 days of inflatable creatures, larger-thanlife monsters, spooky stories and a petrifying parade will be emerging and taking over the streets of Wearside shortly, as Sunderland BID's beloved Lights Out Festival gears up for an emphatic return to the streets of Sunderland city centre! In what's shaping up to be a carnival of special spooks and surprises this autumn, the city will soon welcome six inflatable Mackem Monsters to various iconic buildings around the city centre. What's more? The BID’s highly-popular Sunderland Experience app will make a welcome return and allow you and your intrepid hunters to find augmented reality creatures at various ghoulish points. As a reward for those who use the app, visitors will get exclusive access to a range of discounts and offers for businesses across the city. We did tell you there was a devilishly good time planned! Sunderland BID have been beavering away ensuring that 2021’s celebrations are bigger and better than ever this year and boy, have they pulled out the bag with the inaugural Halloween Community Parade! Lights Out will culminate in a spectacular Halloween parade, created by carnival experts, Creative Seed along with Sunderland College, the University of Sunderland and community groups. This first-of-its-kind parade will take place on 29 October and travel through the city in what's shaping up to be a week-long carnival of unmissable events. What's more? Youngsters will also have the chance to show off their creative skills by entering the Spooky Stories competition, where they have to tell a tale of terror in no more than 500 words! A beloved, family-friendly event that offers so much to our wonderful city, Lights Out Festival will offer a programme of outstanding events and entertainment for all members of the family to enjoy and immerse themselves in! Keep your eyes peeled for further updates as Sunderland goes bump in the night this autumn... For those wanting to find out more on Sunderland BID’s Halloween celebrations, check out sunderlandbid.co.uk

Autumn highlights with Sunderland Culture

Take a look at some seriously cool cultural happenings going on at Sunderland Culture's world-class venues...

Field for the British Isles by Sir Antony Gormley

Until 25 September

Make sure you don’t miss the chance to see Field for the British Isles by Sir Antony Gormley, creator of the Angel of the North, which is on display at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in National Glass Centre until 25th September! This awe-inspiring artwork, which comprises 40,000 unique clay figures, is on loan from the prestigious Arts Council Collection which is an important national loan collection of modern and contemporary British Art. It's the first time Gormley has exhibited in Sunderland, so book your free tickets now before it’s too late! You can also enjoy a free family trail inspired by Field for the British Isles.

NORTHERNGALLERYFORCONTEMPORARYART.ORG.UK

Antony Gormley: Earth Drawings

Until 25 September 2021

To coincide with Sir Antony Gormley’s installation, Field for the British Isles, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens are hosting an exhibition of twelve drawings made by Gormley between 1986 – 1992. The twelve drawings, selected by Antony Gormley, are made from red-coloured earth mixed with rabbit skin glue and water, black pigment and blood.

SUNDERLANDMUSEUM.ORG.UK Where We Are Now

Throughout autumn

Where We Are Now explores the experiences of the last year through artwork, community response and Sunderland residents' photography. The exhibition has been developed in collaboration with Sunderland based community groups. These community groups have worked alongside the team at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens to select and interpret artworks from the Arts Council Collection, opening discussion on themes including, isolation, community, family, nature, systems of care, self care, illness and loss. Also on display are community sourced photographs from Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens Collecting COVID-19 project and artworks produced during and in response to the pandemic.

SUNDERLANDMUSEUM.ORG.UK

A scintillating day out at National Glass Centre

Explore the city’s rich history of glass making and enjoy an epic international exhibition programme that showcases the work of leading contemporary artists through stunning glass and ceramic displays. From mid-October, NGC Glass Prize will open in the main gallery showcasing spectacular glass pieces from artists working across Europe which have been specially selected by a panel of judges. On your visit, you can also book into one of National Glass Centre’s free glass making demonstrations, enjoy a bit of retail therapy in their stunning shop, or treat yourself to lunch in their scenic riverside café, The Glass Yard.

NATIONALGLASSCENTRE.COM

Theatre returns to Arts Centre Washington!

After a hiatus of 18 months performance returns to Arts Centre Washington this autumn with a fantastic programme of live theatre! From thought-provoking productions on the complexities of masculinity, to a sensational one-women tour de force theatre production about the disappearance of Agatha Christie, the stage is truly set at Arts Centre Washington…

SESSIONS

30th September

A raw, funny, bittersweet deepdive into the complexities of masculinity, depression and therapy by exciting new writer, Ifeyinwa Frederick is arriving at Arts Centre Washington this September. SESSIONS follows the story of Tunde who is just about to celebrate his 30th birthday. He’s just started therapy because he hasn’t been able to get to the gym for weeks and a recent one-night stand ended in tears – his own. A thoughtprovoking production that examines the challenge of opening up and accepting our own vulnerabilities, SESSIONS is quite simply unmissable!

The Killer Question

23rd September

There’s an epic dark comedy thriller taking to the stage this autumn as The Silence of the Lambs meets Last Of The Summer Wine in an eclectic stage mash-up. Former game show champion Walter Crump lives for murder (it was even his specialist subject on the nerve shredding, general knowledge quiz show The Chair). But did his obsession with death ultimately lead to his own? That’s certainly what Inspector Black believes, and now it is Crump’s dopey widow Margaret who finds herself in the chair – accused of her husband’s murder. Will Inspector Black solve the mystery? Who will prove to be the ultimate victim of The Chair? And, just as important, which actor will play which character… YOU decide!

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE SHOWS, AS WELL AS OTHER UPCOMING PLAYS INCLUDING THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE, THE UNREMARKABLE DEATH OF MARILYN MONROE AND HANSEL AND GRETEL,

VISIT ARTSCENTREWASHINGTON.CO.UK

Where Is Mrs Christie?

7th October

In 1926, Agatha Christie, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time was at the centre of a mystery as perplexing as any of her fiction when the famous author was missing! Her crashed car was discovered in Surrey and the famous author presumed dead by many, for eleven days. Join the fantastic Liz Grand as she stars in a thrilling onewoman theatre show about the disappearance of one of the UK’s finest fiction writers.

Sunderland Women’s Centre

Sunderland Women’s Centre has over 35 year’s experience of offering community learning & support in the heart of the city. The centre has a very informal, positive and friendly atmosphere, encouraging women of all ages to take time for themselves and meet new people while doing something they enjoy. Childcare is onsite for children of women attending the centre.

Come and join us on our new short/part-time courses starting September 21!

Visit our website to find out more about our courses.

www.sunderlandwomenscentre.co.uk

Open Monday - Thursday

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

0191 567 7495 Email: swc@btconnect.com Sunderland Women’s Centre, 8 Green Terrace, Sunderland, SR1 3PZ