MORE than £3,000 was donated to local causes after a brand new Lake District festival was moved online.

The inaugural Aerial Festival would have brought a wave of music, literature and performance to Ambleside and surrounding areas last year.

Scheduled to take place in March, the event was first delayed and then cancelled in its original format amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ticket-holders for cancelled live shows were asked if they would consider donating the price of their tickets to local causes.

Thanks to the generosity of the public, £3,125 was raised for the Windermere and District Foodbank and the Ambleside Parish Centre.

Sam Hunt, one of Aerial's organisers, said: “Through the generosity of our audience we are delighted to be able to make these donations to these much-needed local causes, and glad we are able in some small way to support those who need help at this most difficult of times.”

The festival was moved online last year. More than 30 artists - from the local area and further afield - were commissioned to create new work centred around the history of the Lake District and Cumbria.

This work can be viewed at aerialfestival.com.