creative peaks
Creative Peaks is an arts and music organisation, joining the dots between sound, words, image, movement and the natural world. Based at the Watts Russell Arms, an ancient stone-built venue nestled between the River Dove and Thor’s Cave in the Peak District National Park, and supported by the Arts Council, Creative Peaks brings together creatives with an emphasis on improvisation, experimentation and collaboration.
9th & 10th MAy
Lost in the Hills is our annual live music and arts festival. Based at the ancient stone-built Watts Russell Arms in the heart of the Peak District National Park, with a line up of contemporary and eclectic live music.
It's all about creativity and connection, with space and time for everyone to get involved, whether it's in our jam sessions or creative workshops or simply connecting with like-minded people. We're open to new ideas and experiments and we want you share in our passion for creativity.
Take some time to immerse yourself in the beautiful terraced gardens, experience the gorgeous countryside with one of our recommended walks, and explore the connections between art and nature through inspiring workshops, eco-conscious craft stalls and links to local rewilding and tree-planting initiatives.
Photos by The Art In You Photography
immersive Geodome
We’re excited to announce that we’ve reached a new milestone in our progress - Creative Peaks Level 2.735X. We’re now the proud owners of this custom-made, 12m diameter, immersive geodome. We’re extremely grateful to Staffordshire Moorlands County Council who have made this possible with a UKSPF Community Enterprise grant. Thanks also to Lotus Domes for the frame, Native Nomads for the canvas cover, Mani Watts for the set design, Chris Smith for the interstellar projection-mapping and finally Support Staffordshire for help with planning. Here’s a video of the crew putting it together. Music is the track ‘Blue Clay’ by the amazing Mara Simpson.
It’s been several months of ups and downs, plans and failures, sewing, cutting, measuring, counting, praying, booking, building, painting, folding, stretching, sketching, drawing and dreaming… and we’re just about ready to take it on the road. Look out for it somewhere in the Staffordshire Moorlands this summer...If you have any projects or events that could make use of a custom-made immersive geodome, with potential for projection-mapping and spatial audio, please get in touch.
We have some amazing live music lined up for you this spring and summer. Click on the link above to see what we have in store, starting with performances by Dudu Kouate, NOMAD and Jesse Barrett.
Supported by the Arts Council, we hosted a programme of concerts throughout 2023 and 2024, including performances by Skylla, The Zawose Queens, Tamsin Elliott & Tarek Elazhary, Shunya, Dudu Kouate, String Beats, Wychbury, Me Lost Me, Sijya, Northern Resonance, Mavky, Vikasati, Old Spot, Millicent Chapanda, Juliette Lemoine, Guohan, Wychbury, Auka and Two Mirrors. You can watch films of some of the highlights by clicking on the link below.
If you can't make it to one of our events (or if you've been to one and want to re-live the experience), you can watch hours of live performances on our YouTube channel...