BLOG: "A new and exciting development for Harrogate’s cultural landscape." - Harrogate Museum

Here at Harrogate Museum we are delighted about again being part of Harrogate’s annual Film Festival. 

As soon as the Festival Director, Adam Chandler, approached us in 2016 we knew that the Film Festival was something we needed to be part of – this new and exciting development for Harrogate’s cultural landscape.

2017’s museum film event could not have gone better.  We wanted to be more than just a film venue, to use the opportunity to showcase what the stories we house that made Harrogate the town it is today.  So we partnered with Harrogate High School Drama department to bring the museum displays to life alongside watching a film in our historic venue. The excellent drama students became locals from times gone by including server of the healing waters, Betty Lupton and Mrs Ogden, wife of James Roberts Ogden of jewellery business fame, who spent time in Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt in the 1920s and donated Egyptian treasures to the museum.  They also brought to life famous visitors to Harrogate, such as Agatha Christie, whose 10 day disappearance in 1926 caused a huge media scandal.  A film for a future year..?

2017’s event was a sell-out so we decided, for 1 year only, to offer a double bill: Night at the Museum and its sequel, Battle of the Smithsonian, as our Experience Cinema event for 2018, bringing the museum to life again in partnership with Harrogate High’s fabulous Drama department.

So do have a good look through this year’s Film Festival programme.  There are other Experience Cinema events for adults and families at exciting local venues (including a bus trip!) as well as the short film competition, a quiz and treats all over town. And I know planning is well under way for 2019 to be even bigger and better, so keep an eye out for details.  In the meantime we hope to see some of you for a great film experience this weekend at Harrogate Museum.