11,550 join Hullabaloo in the Park - THANK YOU

We understand 11,550 is a record attendance for any event in South Park and that Hullabaloo in the Park now one of the largest family festivals in England.  This success shows the power of creative experiences to engage families.

Wherever you looked there were children and their grownups having fun, laughing, oohing and aahing, making, chasing bubbles, and enjoying good food. During the weekend, there were neatly 20,000 individual engagements with outdoor theatre, music making, creative play, storytelling, walkabout performers, crafting, forest school activities, and more.

Feeback from families has been humbling. We carried out over 190 interviews, surveyed 1000s of attendees and had interactive “postervoting” around the park.  95% of those we asked said the festival was “excellent”. As one parent put it: “Our expectations have been exceeded. We couldn’t have asked for a better day out!” 

We even had visits from Darlington MP Lola McEvoy and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who could not have been more supportive in their praise of the event.

We are extremely proud of what Hullabaloo in the Park has achieved, and endlessly grateful to all those that came along and to all of you who helped us stage the event. The festival wouldn’t be possible without a highly committed and skilled staff team, or artists who are passionate about work for younger audiences and outstanding experts in their fields.

Nor could it be achieved without the support of Darlington Borough Council and Northern School of Art, or our key funding partners at Tees Valley Combined Authority and Arts Council England, and sponsors Darlington Building Society, Freeman Johnson, and Bussey and Armstrong.