THE history of a market town is to be brought to life as part of the exciting programme for this year's SO Festival.
Organised by East Lindsey District Council, the 2013 event will be district-wide over 10 days from June 28-July 7 featuring shows, events and culture.
This year's event includes a partnership with the Horncastle Festival's committee.
SO Festival organisers will be presenting Horncastle -– Enchanted Town on Saturday, June 29 – a free evening event using the town's prominent buildings as the canvasses for a team of illuminators.
Festival Director Robin Morley of Magnetic Events said: "The ink is not dry yet on some of the things we will be presenting in Horncastle but this will be a brand new event to be piloted this year. We will look at building on it as a visitor attraction event for Horncastle."
By using illuminations on buildings such as The Joseph Bank's Centre, the Post Office and businesses in the town, the town's heritage will be brought to life featuring the stories of famous botanist Joseph Banks and Captain James Cook.
A queue of people is expected to form outside the town's telephone kiosks in the Market Place to see the Kraken waking and to hear Tennyson recite Charge of the Light Brigade from the adjoining phone box.
One of the ideas is to illuminate St Mary's Church so that the stained glass windows will effectively be viewed in reverse from outside.
Organisers are also in talks with the town's launderette which could appear to fill slowly with water before magically returning back to normal.
The event will coincide with the summer festival, organised by the Horncastle Festival's committee, the following Sunday, June 30.
In support of local businesses, free programmes will be given on the purchase of something in the town's shops.
It is also hoped that local accommodation venues will benefit as people will come to Horncastle to enjoy both events over the weekend.
Councillor Doreen Stephenson, leader of East Lindsey District Council, said: "Horncastle Festival Group approached us asking how can they get involved following last year's SO Festival and this is the fantastic result.
"We hope this will be a great success and we hope to expand it to other market towns."
Councillor Fiona Martin, chairman of the Horncastle Festival Committee said: "Last year, we welcomed the SO Festival to Horncastle and were incredibly impressed with the quality of street theatre that visited us.
"It was incredibly well received and the Horncastle Festival Committee were keen to see if we could do more to extend the reach of SO Festival.
"We're pleased to say we have achieved that and are looking forward to seeing the impact the Enchanted Town has on Horncastle in terms of giving people a new experience and an opportunity to support the town's economy whilst they visit."
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