Amy Johnson Festival Officially Launches

A festival that will inspire, excite and entertain is set to launch in Hull on Saturday, July 2.

Amy Johnson Festival, a two-month long celebration with more than 60 events, launches in Zebedee’s Yard, Hull with a major exhibition, Da Vinci Engineered. Featuring flight machines based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventive designs, the exhibition is a first for the UK and has travelled from Florence, Italy. The exhibition also features works by contemporary artists and opens Saturday from 10am.

Alongside this, the programme contains a wide variety of cultural and engineering-based events inspired by aviation heroine Amy Johnson, who was born in Hull and was the first woman to fly solo from the UK to Australia.

Commemorating the 75 th anniversary of her death, Amy Johnson Festival will raise Amy’s profile and public awareness of her remarkable achievements as an aviator, as an engineer and as a woman of her time. At a time when the City of Hull has a brighter future built on green energy, Amy is a role model for encouraging young women to consider a career in engineering.

A major public art project, ‘A Moth for Amy’ has also been launched, with 59 giant painted Moth sculptures brightening locations across the UK. Originally created by East Yorkshire-based sculptor Saffron Waghorn, most Moths can be found in Hull and East Yorkshire, with some spreading their wings outside the area, fluttering as far as Croydon Airport, the location Amy started her solo flight, and Herne Bay, Kent, close to the place of her death.

Rick Welton, Festival Director, said: “The Amy Johnson Festival re-imagines Amy’s world through the lens of today. We hope that our programme will bring Amy to life, through a great progamme of events that will have a wide family appeal.

“We’ve already seen a fantastic response to our festival plans and to ‘A Moth for Amy’, which demonstrates the enthusiasm and excitement the people of Hull have for festivals in general and Amy Johnson in particular.

“There is also a huge sense of anticipation from people across the country to attend the festival – a great indication of how much Amy Johnson and her story captivates people today.”

The Festival’s opening Saturday in Zebedee’s Yard features a range of free family entertainment, including The Journey, a performance arts piece based on the flying machines of Leonardo Da Vinci, and Pif Paf’s Planetary, a stunning theatre show fusing movement, aerial acrobatics, theatre and Russian swing.

Huge support has been demonstrated across the UK, with more than 70 businesses sponsoring events and projects. 

Representatives from these businesses will attend a VIP event on Friday, July 1 st , when they will be able to preview the Da Vinci Engineered exhibition. A keynote speech from Benita Mehra, the President of the Women’s Engineering Society will deliver the opening address. Amy Johnson herself was President of Women’s Engineering Society .

One of the major sponsors for the festival is the University of Hull. Professor Stephanie Haywood of the School of Engineering said: “The University of Hull is, and always has been, a supporter of creativity, arts and culture for our students, our staff and our community. 

“Our School of Engineering is passionate about making the link between art and engineering – the creativity needed for engineering design and also the engineering often needed to make great art – and as such we are proud to join forces with the Amy Johnson festival in celebrating one of city’s most prominent pioneers."

To find out more about Amy Johnson Festival, please visit amyjohnsonfestival.co.uk and download the festival guide. News will also appear on Twitter via @amy_festival and @amothforamy. Photo credit: Jerome Whittingham and Amy Johnson Festival.