Hebden Bridge Burlesque Festival
Hebden Bridge Burlesque Festival returns to the Calder Valley this April for a colourful celebration of life and humanity.
Now in its tenth year, the festival will grace the stage of the Todmorden Hippodrome from 27th - 30th April 2023. Named "Best Burlesque Event" at the 2016 Burlesque Awards, this hotly-awaited 4 day event takes place in the Calderdale Valley on the Early May Bank Holiday weekend.
International stars
HBBF features international headliners from all over the world, as well as local and national talent. This year’s shows will include a diverse range of acts, from the frivolous and flirtatious, to the weird and wonderful - and downright wild. The festival will also include workshops, events, talks and happenings.
Originally conceived in 2013, the Hebden Bridge Burlesque Festival was the lovechild of Burlesque performers & producers, Lady Wildflower and Heidi Bang Tidy. They produced 7 festivals together until Heidi retired from HBBF in 2019 and Lady Wildflower continued solo.
Lady Wildflower
Lady Wildflower is one of the UK's most respected and applauded Burlesque & Cabaret producers. She produced her first show, The Frou Frou Club, at Hebden Bridge Little Theatre in October 2011. Since then, The Frou Frou Club has had regular sold-out shows at HBLT as well as at Todmorden Hippodrome and in Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall, Manchester and Grimsby and has starred some of the most critically acclaimed burlesque & cabaret performers from all over the world.
Wildflower curates regular shows for multiple venues across the North West including: Albert's Schloss in Manchester & Liverpool, The Whip & Kitten in Rawtenstall and The Mess Room in Skipton.
Between 2013 & 2015, Wildflower and Bang Tidy also co-produced the Green Eggs & Glam Revue at Manchester's Dance House theatre, Dr Sketchy's Hebden Bridge and Champagne & Showgirls in Bradford and Halifax.
Happy 10th Birthday!
Now celebrating its 10th year, HBBF is the biggest and most renowned Burlesque Festival in the UK outside of London. Described as ‘the Jewel of the Burlesque Calendar’ by 21st Century Burlesque, and with performers and artists coming from all over the world, this year’s bigger and better HBBF is a show not to be missed!
From local residents to those coming from around the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe, attendees have always brought a real buzz to Calderdale when the Festival is on. Local accommodation and businesses report an uplift over the weekend. This is a festival that really contributes to the local community.
Over 200 different performers have appeared at HBBF since 2013. Some of the world's biggest burlesque headliners have graced the HBBF stages over the years including Kitten DeVille, Jett Adore, Perle Noire, Sydni Deveraux, Sweetpea and Inga to name a few.
Awards and Accolades
In 2016, HBBF was awarded the "Best Event" award at the UK Burlesque Awards and is considered one of the most respected Burlesque events in the European Burlesque calendar by performers and audiences alike. Unusually, Hebden Bridge Burlesque Festival was awarded Arts Council Funding in 2016 and 2017. As the only Burlesque weekender in the UK to receive such funding, it was a stamp of approval for both the Festival and the artform itself. What started as relatively small 2 day event has grown to be one of the biggest events of it's kind in Europe.
HBBF takes place in the small picturesque West Yorkshire town of Todmorden, near Hebden Bridge. Hebden Bridge is known for it's bohemian spirit and creativity. With its independent boutiques, organic cafes and independent art galleries set amongst the beautiful, quintessentially British cobbled streets and rolling wooded hills.
Among other accolades, Hebden Bridge has been labelled "The Greatest Town in Europe", "The 4th Funkiest Town in the World" and "The Lesbian Capital of the UK". HBBF is one of the town's many fabulous festivals, including the Happy Valley Pride, Hebden Bridge Arts Festival and the Handmade Parade.
If you are looking for a healthy portion of fabulous, featuring some of the best performers from the world of burlesque and alternative cabaret, served up with a great big dollop of Yorkshire hospitality, then Hebden Bridge Burlesque Festival is the place to be.
Drag Bingo
Possibly one of the most anticipated events of the weekend is Dolly Trolley’s Drag Bingo, which returns after sold-out success in 2019.
This glitzy and glamorous game show for all to partake in, with camp anthems, prizes, lip-sync battles, bum shake-offs, conga lines, spot prizes and drag performances from Dolly Trolley.
Completely bonkers, utterly delightful and always at 100mph, Dolly Trolley is a Yorkshire-born bombshell based in London. Since debuting in early 2017, she quickly became a household name of the UK drag and cabaret scene known for high energy drag and burlesque acts, fierce dance moves, hilarious comedy parodies, rip-roaring hosting, and queer fitness classes.
She will be hosting her DRAG BINGO event on Sunday 30th April at Nan Moor's bar (opposite The Golden Lion).
Workshops
For those of you wanting to brush up on your fitness, learn the art of tease (or simply having a really good laugh!) there are workshops available throughout the Bank Holiday weekend. Choose from 10 fun and informative workshops at HBBF 2023 with some of the best educators in the industry.
If you want MORE of the fabulous Dolly Trolley, get yourself ready for drag aerobics on Saturday morning. Later, Lady Wildflower will be teaching Burlesque for beginners at 1pm on Saturday. You can rave it up with Cleopantha on Sunday, or learn to hula hoop with Natasha Moonshine. This is just a taster of what’s on offer. You can see the full line-up of workshops HERE.
This is a weekend not to be missed. Holiday accommodation in Hebden Bridge gets booked up very quickly - and tickets for some of the acts have already sold out!
So gets your skates on and we’ll look forward to seeing you in April. Who knows, the sun may even shine!!
