An art festival, that was recently launched, is growing an international following, organisers say.
The new Appleby Tree Art Festival grew this international following after the outdoor exhibition went online.
The event, led by Appleby based artist Karen Babayan is attracting visitors to the town to take the riverside art trail walk and enjoy 20 themed sculptures in the trees.
The exhibition runs until Sunday, May 8.
Pupils from five local schools including Appleby Primary and Grammar Schools have been involved in the Tree Art Festival, working with artist Kate Brundrett to design and create their own tree art displays.
Local people have been working with Karen as part of the Appleby Artscene workshops, held in Appleby Library.
The group also have the Appleby Artscene Facebook group where people can share their artwork online.
Now by scanning a QR code or clicking a link, people are viewing the exhibition via Google Maps.
Artist Karen Babayan said: “Since the virtual tour of the Tree Art Festival has gone online, it has been very popular with virtual visitors around the world.
"The Tree Art Festival has really caught people’s imaginations.
"We would like to thank Appleby Rotary for their support with the installation of the sculpture trail and Cumbria Libraries for contributing to the community workshop space, and with Easter school holidays and bank holiday weekend in the middle of the Festival, as well as virtual visitors, the exhibition is attracting many real visitors to our town, which is a great boost for our local shops and cafes.”
As well as the riverside art trail, the festival encourages residents to create their own art trees in their gardens and neighbourhoods.
"The event has been designed to be Covid resilient - being both outdoors and online.
Visitors can enjoy the free Appleby Tree Art festival exhibition by following the riverside path on the town side of the River Eden, next to St Lawrence’s Church and can add their own addition to the tree art at the first tree in the display - the Peace Tree.
Yellow and blue ribbons are available from the Tourist Information Centre in the Cloisters for people to add to the Peace Tree.
All donations made when collecting the ribbons will be matched by the UK government for the Disasters Emergency Appeal for Ukraine.
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