The weather could do nothing to spoil York’s new festival, because an indoor lawn of real grass was created for the event.
Visitors to the city’s Festival of Ideas were invited to sit on the “island of green”, listen to jazz and eat cake during the festival in June and July.
The carpet of grass was installed at the Ron Cooke Hub in the University of York.
The festival of ideas was organised by the University of York, York Theatre Royal, The National Centre for Early Music and York Museums Trust. It aimed to bring together world-class speakers, performances and artistic endeavour.
The festival had a programme of 24 events taking place over three weeks. The themes were Samuel Beckett, the body and the Bible.
Community events aimed to get families involved in the festival and included a Sensory Stories Café, a project which used taste, sound, smell, sight and touch to bring stories to life. Families were invited to take their bibles along to experts to discover a bit about their family history, and a creative writing workshop was held.
Authors and artists gave talks, performances included Anthony Minghella’s play, Two Planks and a Passion, and exhibitions included a display of photography.
Professor Jane Moody, director of the University of York’s Humanities Research Centre and one of the festival’s organisers, said: “Why shouldn’t York have a festival as big as Edinburgh? That’s what we’re aiming for.
“And there is something for everybody to enjoy, from the ages of four to 94!”