Feast Your Eyes On A Festival Round Up
It’s a drizzly day in June and I’m in a town square taking photos of a piano, beautifully painted by a local artist, while listening to the beat of a Samba band. A toddler is happily tapping the piano keys, and round the corner families are busy making lanterns in a willow workshop for an evening food market. All around me are people having a good time, in spite of the weather.
The town is Macclesfield and all these events, plus many more, are part of the Barnaby Festival, an arts and culture weekend based around the historic St Barnabus Feast Day. Like the many volunteers who organise and run Barnaby, I became involved because I wanted to see more going on in my town, a place once described in a survey as ‘the least culturally diverse in Britain’. This year, around fifty separate visual arts exhibitions, a live broadcast of the BBC’s Any Questions for Radio 4, a parade featuring over 500 local people plus live music and theatre events have all helped to change that opinion for good.
Looking around the north west, we aren’t the only ones taking the cultural bull by the horns. In Reddish, near Stockport, Reddfest Arts and Culture Festival took place in June, with local artists displaying work, children’s events and music. It’s hoped it will become an annual event. In the last week in September, Didsbury Arts Festival takes place, run by locals who want to see more art in the area. Last year there were around 100 events in venues across the area attracting 10,000 visitors. They are currently taking submissions for events, particularly from local artists. Also in September, Ramsbottom Festival, jointly organised by the The Bury Met theatre, has a great line up, including Badly Drawn Boy, the Guillemots, the Waterboys and Capercaille. Their website states that one of their aims is ‘to raise the profile of Ramsbottom and surrounding areas, celebrate its heritage and introduce the residents & visitors to new music from around the region’.
Although on a much bigger scale, Manchester International Festival, running between 30th June-17th July, has many of the same aims: to raise the profile of the city and encourage interest in the arts to flourish by commissioning and curating specific brand new works. Using venues and public spaces across the city, 2009’s festival attracted 230,000 visitors, definitely a boost to Manchester’s economy.
This year includes Dr Dee a new opera from Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris at the Palace Theatre, 11 Rooms, a group show from various internationally known artists at Manchester Art Gallery, The Crash of the Elysium, an exciting Dr Who inspired interactive performance from Punchdrunk aimed at younger audiences and That Day We Sang from Victoria Wood, described as ‘a Manchester love story- with singing’ at the Opera House.
MIF also works within the community, around 2,500 local people from schools and organisations were involved at the last festival, and local people continue to contribute to the annual Manchester Day Parade, inspired by Jeremy Deller’s interactive parade art piece in 2009. This year, Victoria Wood’s production features many local school children in the choir.
To complement MIF, and to give grassroots, local artists a platform, Not Part Of… was born. Running alongside MIF, it aims to promote theatre, art and music projects from any individual or group with an idea, encouraging local people to get involved in an event they would like to see themselves.
Between 30 June and 16 July, there are over 100 events in venues right across the city, from small bars to Salford Arts Theatre and the City Library. The application process is designed to be extremely open and inclusive, so you’re bound to see something unusual…
Some larger venues are hosting Not Part Of… events too, Manchester Museum have a special ‘alternative’ life drawing class aimed at families, where budding artists can draw dressed up models and enjoy fun games. The Royal Exchange’s new performance of As You Like It is also part of the line up and the theatre is acting as an info point during the festival.
As I sipped my wine at the food market and watched the sun go down on Barnaby 2011, I found myself thinking about my previous festival experiences, back when they were only about rock music, muddy fields, nasty porta-loos, damp tents, and not washing for three days straight. Nowadays, things have become altogether more civilised, not to mention family friendly. Festivals are helping the local economy, introducing people to new cultural events and, in my experience, great fun to be involved with. So this summer, why not go see what’s happening at your local festival...
Feature and image by Louise Murphy.
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