A Mid-Winter Hullabaloo is a mystery - a forgotten secret, a whisper carried through forests, valleys, and towns. Rooted in ancient traditions that once brought communities together through song, story, and celebration, this project invites us to rediscover those shared rituals and imagine how we might summon them anew for today’s audiences and future generations.
 

About the Project
 

Mid-Winter Hullabaloo is a new creative project to develop a micro winter festival centred on play, curiosity, and experimentation. Co-created with local communities, it celebrates people and place by weaving together music, folklore, and time-honoured customs to inspire fresh traditions for the future.

 

Working alongside the communities of Moresby, Cleator Moor, and Egremont, the Hullabaloo will evoke the spirit of travelling fairs and carnivals - bringing light, warmth, and togetherness to the darker winter months.

Explore our gallery to discover how local children and communities have captured the spirit of the Hullabaloo in their own unique ways.
 

 

Join us for our next Hullabaloo events and get involved​​

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​​​​​Hullabaloo Takeover
Rosehill Theatre - Saturday 6 December 
Florence Arts Centre - Sunda 7 December 

Handpicked Productions offers a first glimpse of new work for the Mid-Winter Hullabaloo 2026. Enjoy family-friendly SumArt To Do workshops, singing and sound sessions, and a chance to audition for the commissioned play. Join us to help shape new traditions for our community. 


 

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What is a Hullabaloo – and where can we find it?

 

We’ve been asking that question everywhere - in schools, community groups, social clubs and around kitchen tables.
 

Is a Hullabaloo a celebration? A feeling? A memory? A sound?

Or is it something we make together?
 

In this special SumArt To Do workshop, you’re invited to help find it.
 

Together with our Creative Director Janice and Composer Anna Pool, you’ll explore what the Hullabaloo might look like, feel like, and sound like.
 

Using textiles, paint, spices, and cloth, you’ll create your own mini-Hullabaloo - a small handmade amulet filled with meaning, protection, and imagination. It might hold a memory, a colour, a hope, a sound, a story - or something that matters to you.
 

At the same time, through playful group sound-making, rhythm, voice, and unexpected noises, you’ll help Anna shape the Hullabaloo’s emerging song.
 

Is it laughter? Bells? Whispers? Footsteps in the dark? Or the sound of all of us, gathered together?

Rosehill Theatre • 10am - 12.30pm  • £4

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Florence Arts Centre • 10am - 12.30pm  • £4

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Calling West Cumbrian Actors, Performers and Singers
 

We are inviting west Cumbrian actors, performers and singers to join us on Saturday 6 December for a first read through of our new play, written especially for the Midwinter Hullabaloo.
 

Written by Emma McGordon with stories gathered through workshops with local communities in Moresby, Egremont and Cleator Moor, this new play will bring the Hullabaloo to life. This is your chance to feed into the writing process, giving feedback on what works and what doesn’t and letting us know if you’d be interested in taking on a role.
 

Interested to find out more? 

 

Join Director Frederic Wake Walker and Writer Emma McGordon as we unveil our new work.

When: Saturday 6 December 

Time: 1.30pm - 4.30pm