Grand Central helps Brighouse Arts Festival go with a swing

Grand Central is delighted to be the principal supporter of this year’s Brighouse Arts Festival (5-14 October).

The festival features more than 40 of the highest quality cultural events, all taking place in the centre of Brighouse. Bringing together music, literature, art, theatre, comedy and film and a wide array of cultural talks, workshops and family activities, the festival opens on Friday 5 October and runs until 14 October. The festival was launched nationally at King’s Cross, London, with volunteers from Brighouse and Grand Central manning a stand in the main concourse.

Highlights this year include what promises to be a loud headline appearance from Brian Blessed, local singer-songwriter Jade Helliwell, Halifax’s Orchestra of Square Chapel and Bradford crime writer AA Dhand.

Grand Central, which operates direct trains from Brighouse to London, has been supporting the festival for the last three years. Says chief operating officer Sean English, “It’s really important to us to get behind events like this in the communities Grand Central serves. The festival is a great testament to the talent and enthusiasm in Brighouse and we’re particularly proud of the way it makes the arts accessible to local people.”

Festival trustee John Buxton says, “Without the great support of sponsors like Grand Central, we just wouldn't have the confidence to book these leading artists and provide a wonderful art and cultural event for the people of West Yorkshire."

Notes for editors

Grand Central Railway Company Limited is an established train operator that provides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and North East England with London.

Established in 2007, Grand Central celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. Customer satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company has just been named Britain’s best value rail operator for the fifth year in a row.

Grand Central operates West Riding Services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London Kings Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London Kings Cross.

Grand Central is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe. Arriva employs more than 60,000 people and delivers more than 2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year.

For more information about Brighouse Arts Festival please visit www.brighouseartsfestival.co.uk

For further information on this or Grand Central’s community and stakeholder activity, please contact Hazel Davis – [email protected]. For all other Grand Central enquiries please contact Sarah Banks/Anna Hodgson on 0191 261 4250, [email protected]

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