A NEW three-week pop-up festival aimed at developing nightlife in Blackburn starts on Friday.

Winter: BBN has received a £15,000 grant from the Arts Council and will see some major names from the worlds of both art and music heading to the town.

It is the brainchild of Demented Disco - Blackburn duo Chris Eckersall and Joe Wilkinson - who in the past six years have staged events all over the North West.

“We want to help improve Blackburn’s nightlife,” said Chris, “but we have taken a fresh approach to it.

“The idea that we will ever get back to the days when there were scores of bars open every night in the town centre is never going to happen. Society has changed. But there will always be a demand from people to experience good quality events.”

The Festival of Making and the Textile Biennial held this year have backed up the duo’s beliefs with thousands of people attending a series of events around East Lancashire.

“We want to demonstrate that by working together over a series of weekends, people will come out and support what is being provided for them.”

Winter: BBN gets underway on Friday with a charity fashion show run in conjunction with Debenhams and Gio Gio at Holy Trinity Church in Blackburn in aid of Nightsafe. It will also see the launch of an affordable art exhibition at the deconsecrated church featuring work from some of the North West’s leading artists.

Then on Saturday, The House That Jack Built will see leading DJ Allister Whitehead performing at the Blues Bar at Blackburn Rovers following the home game against Derby county. Later in the evening he will then join Hacienda DJ Graeme Park at Holy Trinity Church.

Other events lined up include Embrace frontman Danny McNamara and Virgin Radio DJ Eddy Temple Morris performing at the Missing Persons Bureau - the former Blackburn Community Church off Mincing Lane - next Friday; a tribute to the Beastie Boys from Beast Decoys on Friday, December 21; Fat White Family doing a DJ set on Saturday, December 21 and Demented Disco themselves hosting a Boxing Day event featuring Crazy P’s Danielle Moore.

“We are really excited about this project,” said Chris. “The idea is that it will also attract people from outside East Lancashire to come to Blackburn because they know that quality events are being staged”

Blackburn BID manager, Catherine Price said: “This is the sort of forward thinking, multi faceted event which will help reinvent Blackburn’s nightlife-with a focus on high quality international performers, side by side with local talent.”

Details from www.winterbbn.com