Cumbrians can enjoy a packed programme of arts and culture in 2020.

The county will again see many exciting events from its mall independent galleries to live music gigs, heritage collections to innovative theatre.

A major new exhibition unveiling the splendour of almost 4,000 years of imperial culture the Treasures of China (Jan 25-Apr 26) at Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery is an unmissable highlight tracing the 6,000 mile journey the exquisite artefacts made to Carlisle.

There are big changes afoot for Abbott Hall Art Gallery in Kendal in 2020. The doors close for two years on February 21 as it embarks on a major £9.6 million redevelopment project to transform the site in time to reopen for the gallery’s 60th Anniversary in 2022.

Make the most of the gallery’s exhibitions while you can, ‘Colour and Light’, ACoA - A Centre of Attention, and photos by Romney Art Prize winner Oliver Clarke which are on until February 1.

The gallery will temporarily re-open for three days in June for FOLDED (June 18-20), exploring ideas of space and the traces left behind.

Exploring materials and the process of making, Made With (Mar 21-May 9) opens the season at Crosslane Projects in Kendal, an independent contemporary art gallery, its programme is thought provoking and exciting.

Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories, celebrates its first birthday on March 23 2020. The Museum will be the place for adults and children wanting to have their own Swallows and Amazon adventure as it hosts a celebration of English author Arthur Ransome, the programme opens in March and runs until 2021.

At Blackwell, an arts and crafts centre in Bowness, learn about the socialist politics beneath the visually engaging decorative movement in The Arts & Crafts of Politics (Jan 24-Apr 19).

Inspired by Japanese block prints unearthed in the collection and timed to coincide with 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the big summer show House of the Setting Sun opens on May 1.

The region’s most innovative year-round producing house, Theatre by The Lake in Keswick, has a season packed with brilliant performance.

A must see for musical fans, Malory Towers (Fri Mar 27- Sat Apr 18) is the original ‘Girl Power’ story by Enid Blyton, reimagined for the 21st Century.

One Side Lies the Sea (Fri Mar 27 – Sat Apr 18) is a musical journey through the brilliant communities that inhabit our coastline from Newlyn to Maryport, Silloth to Hornsea. In Cumbria, one of the stories comes from The Solway’s very own ancient Viking tradition of Haaf net fishing.

For literature lovers 2020 marks the 250th Anniversary of William Wordsworth’s birth. There is a host of talks, workshops, exhibitions and guided walks to experience at Wordsworth House & Gardens, Allan Bank, Rydal Mount and the Wordsworth Trust.

The reimagined Dove Cottage will be unveiled to the public to celebrate the great poet’s birthday on April 7.

Running prior to the poetic anniversary is the North West’s leading literature festival Words by the Water (Fri Mar 6 - Sun Mar 15) where the curious, the bookish and the adventurous gather at Theatre by the Lake to rub shoulders with writers and thinkers.

For art in the landscape there’s no better place than Grizedale Forest. Running until April 28, Earth Photo is a free exhibition that aims to stimulate conversation about our world and its inhabitants in the face of climate change.

This barely scratches the surface of what’s on offer.Check out the events calendar at Lake Culture www.lakesculture.co.uk