Northwich - Culture and Community

Culture and Community

The town has two key events a year. Over the August Bank Holiday Weekend Northwich Festival is held at Moss Farm Sports Complex. Featuring 4 days of music and sport with the main attraction for the Monday being the UK Strongman-North Competition. The Thundersprint motorcycling event is held every May in Northwich. This event attracts over 130,000 people over the two days, and claims to be the world's biggest street bike party.

These events were joined in 2011 by the town's first Medieval Festival, which was staged in Verdin Park over the weekend of August 13 and 14. This event, sponsored by Cheshire West & Cheshire Council as part of their efforts to promote the town centre as a destination, is planned to be an annual happening. The 2011 Northwich Medieval Festival featured The Poor Knights of St Dysmas, God's Company of Tabor, The Freemen of Gwent, and the Knights Hospitallers of the North, as well as the Ya Raqs Eastern Dance Troupe.

Northwich Memorial Hall was opened in 1960 and hosts a range of activities, including the Purple Cactus Comedy Club. The Harlequin Theatre produces six plays each year, and is also the home of Northwich Folk Club (which has run continuously since 1977).

The Regal cinema was closed in 2007 and remains derelict. However there are plans for a new cinema as part of the Northwich Vision redevelopment of Baron's Quay.

Northwich has a rich musical history, with a number of locals being part of bands such as Placebo, which provided the soundtrack to the film Cruel Intentions. Tim Burgess from the Charlatans lived in Northwich. The band were originally managed by Steve Harrison from the Omega Music record store in the town.

Northwich has its own fictional hero in the form of the ultimate ghost-hunter, James Boag-Munroe. The creation is the work of local Horror author Stuart Neild. The first novel, titled A Haunted Man, features Boag-Munroe's adventures in the haunted salt mines that run underneath Northwich, combining fact with supernatural fiction. More novels are on the way featuring Northwich and other North West locations as the backdrops to the novels. A Hollywood film and television series is also in development based on the books.

Northwich has two local newspapers: the Northwich Guardian, published by Newsquest, and the Northwich Chronicle, published by Trinity Mirror. A radio station, Cheshire FM, covers the mid-Cheshire area including Northwich.

Northwich is the home of two non-league football teams, Northwich Victoria and Witton Albion. Until 2002, it was the home of one of the world's oldest football grounds, the Drill Field, former home of Northwich Victoria, however due to new league rules, the ground was demolished and the club's ground was moved to nearby Wincham. The town has two rugby union sides Northwich RUFC and Winnington Park.