Florence Festival Summer finale

Derbyshire’s Illuminate Festival, celebrating the life and  times of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale has been running since April and has already included a wide range of arts performances, social and education events that have been enjoyed by young and old throughout the county.

The Festival reaches an exciting climax in August with a host of events organised by the Florence Nightingale Derbyshire Association to mark the centenary of her death on August 13.

The keynote events during August will be a Commemorative Centenary Service at Derby Cathedral on Friday August 13; The Florence Nightingale Heritage Festival on the weekend of Saturday August 14 and Sunday August 15 in Lea and Holloway; and throughout August the first chance in the county to see the new Florence Nightingale exhibition at the Arkwright Society, Cromford.

The Commemorative Service at Derby Cathedral on Friday August 13 starts at 2pm and admission is by ticket only which are free and now available from the Cathedral Café in Queen Street, Derby.

The celebrations will start with a procession from the Guildhall to the Cathedral at 1.30pm which will be led by the clergy, followed by members of the 4th Battalion Mercian Regiment – the successor Regiment to the 95th Derbyshire Foot which served in the Crimea at the same time as Florence Nightingale was at Scutari – who will provide the colour party and be accompanied by their Regimental Mascot, the ram Private Derby.

The Battalion will be joined in the procession by the 39 Queen’s Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps, a uniformed contingent of nurses from the Royal Derby Hospital, Derby Hospital Choir and soldiers dressed in uniforms from the time of the Crimean War.

This will be followed by the hour-long service where The Bishop of Derby will give the address and the Derby Hospital Choir will lead the singing.  Readings will be given by a soldier and a nurse and the congregation will include the Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire and the Mayor of Derby.

A collection will be held for SSAFA to support the welfare of soldiers, sailors and airmen and their families and the organisation will also stage an exhibition of a modern military field hospital and how it would have looked in the Crimean War on August 13 at the Guildhall.

The Illuminate Festival then moves to Lea and Holloway on Saturday August 14 and Sunday August 15 close to where Florence lived her early life and where she maintained close links before her death on August 13 1910, aged 90.

Saturday’s free festival event will be held on John Smedley’s Sports Field in Lea Bridge and will include a host of family fun including traditional family games, country craft workshops and demonstrations, theatre performances and a brass band. 

The festival (between 11am and 5pm) will be officially opened by Mrs Margaret Povey, the first cousin twice removed of Florence Nightingale and her closest living descendant.

Meanwhile, the Florence Nightingale Memorial Hall in Holloway will host an exhibition of her life and showings of a film about the famous nursing pioneer on Saturday August 14 and Sunday August 15 between 11am and 5pm.

The festival weekend will also see the launch of two new trail guides – for motorists and pedestrians which highlight a number of key locations connected with Florence Nightingale’s family and links with Derbyshire.

These include Lea Mills, the John Smedley factory originally established by Peter Nightingale; Lea Hurst, the summer home of the Nightingale Family; Lea Hall, the family home in the 18th century; Lea Chapel, endowed by Thomas Nightingale; Nightingale House, a reading room established by Florence in Hollway and Cromford Bridge House where Florence nursed her Great Aunt, Elizabeth Evans.

Finally, throughout August (1-31), there will be an exhibition at the Arkwright Society’s Gothic Warehouse at Cromford Wharf. It is entitled ‘Florence Nightingale, A Derbyshire Legend’ and is devoted to her life and achievements.

The exhibition has been created by the Florence Nightingale Derbyshire Association and inspired by the acquisition of exhibition material which has been donated by the Florence Nightingale Museum in London prior to its recent refurbishment.

The material has been re-designed, expanded and re-presented by the Association in a new refreshed and light-weight format so that it can be easily transported to venues in the future such as schools, libraries and for groups and societies to host.

The fascinating exhibition is divided into sections of her life:
• Legend and Legacy: detailing Florence Nightingale’s influence as a researcher, statistician and reformer and her legacy to modern nursing throughout the world
• A Derbyshire Family: mapping the Nightingale family and Florence’s connections with Derbyshire
• A Bird in a Gilded Cage: explaining her dislike of being tied to a life of society, her travels, her call to serve God and her desire to nurse the sick
• The Crimea: bringing to life Florence Nightingale’s time in the Crimea 1854-56, her work with nurses to improve the appalling conditions, the care and diet of the sick and wounded soldiers in the Scutari Barrack Hospital, her illness and her fame upon her return to England
• Health and Hospitals: documenting the opening of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and improvements in 19th century nursing and healthcare
• The Reform Years: celebrating the years of work at her home in South Street, time spent with her sister at Claydon House, the honours bestowed upon her and her death and funeral

 
John Rivers, Chair of the Florence Nightingale Derbyshire Association, explained: “We are delighted with the success of the Illuminate festival and are very much looking forward to the climax of events this August,  which have been made possible by the  generosity of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Derbyshire Community Foundation Ashby and Grassroots Funds and Rolls-Royce”

“The commemorative service, exhibition and festival will all be wonderful celebrations of the life, work and times of this extraordinary woman. 

“These events will also mark the launch of the future legacy that the Illuminate festival will leave behind.

“The walking and car trails will hopefully encourage more people from throughout the world to visit this area and follow in Florence Nightingale’s footsteps here in the county.

“And the fascinating exhibition will be available for people young and old throughout the county to enjoy for years to come both as a physical exhibition and also in a digital version – bringing the legacy of Florence Nightingale bang up to date and relevant to the future generations who will keep her memory alive.

“The Florence Nightingale Derbyshire Association is justly proud that we have created a fitting tribute to one of the most famous women in history as a pioneer of professional nursing practices and the rights of women to pursue a professional career rather than conforming to the socially accepted path for women in the late 19th century.”

“Thousands of people will have been involved in the Illuminate Festival in one way or another and have had the opportunity to find out more the  life, work and times of Florence Nightingale”

Details of all the Illuminate Festival events are available on the website www.illuminate2010.com