NEWPORT Rising Festival programmes are now available throughout the city centre ahead of this weekend’s event.

The pocket sized event schedule unfolds to include the full schedule of events, a map of the route for the torch lit march taking place on Saturday, and an A3 poster on the reverse.

The festival will take place between November 2 and November 4; with the highlight of the weekend set to be the torch-lit march through the city centre, following in the footsteps of those who fought – and died – for democracy in the Newport Rising of 1839.

Flying Bridge Theatre will perform at Belle Vue Park at 4.30pm ahead of the march, which will include drumming from Barracwda, songs, and performances, ending in a dramatic finale at the Westgate Hotel.

Attendance is free, but guests should register in advance and should arrive an hour before the march starts at 5pm.

Following the march, there will be live music by bands, including Rusty Shackle, Jon Langford and the Charlemagnes, performing at The Gallery Space in Newport Market, and Le Pub.

Festival director David Daniel, said: “We’re really excited to be bringing a festival unlike any other to Newport, one that celebrates the city not only as the place where an important milestone on the road to democracy took place, but also as a city on the rise right now.

“We’re going to follow in the footsteps of the Chartists and recreate part of the route that John Frost and thousands of others took in 1839, carrying wax torches as a reminder of the ‘Chartist lights’ that were seen traversing the valleys in the lead-up to the uprising in 1839, as groups plotted and planned in secret.”

The festival is being led by charity Our Chartist Heritage (OCH), with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Newport City Council, Newport Now, Fusion Project and Tiny Rebel Brewing Co.

The first festival celebrating Chartism is Newport, organisers are hoping to make it an annual event and are already working on a Chartist community play to be featured at Newport Rising 2019.

For more information see www.newportrising.co.uk