Presentation by Sue Twyford and Peter Forster.
Minutes:
Sue Twyford and Peter Forster of the Wollaton arts Festival Steering Group, delivered a PowerPoint presentation highlighting activity and achievements of the Wollaton arts Festival which ran from 1 July -16 July 2017.
Following the success of last year’s festival this year’s festival has been expanded and received increased support from Ward councillors, schools, churches, community groups and local businesses, for which the steering group is very grateful and want to say thank you.
The festival was launched in Wollaton Hall Courtyard by Councillor Culley. Numerous workshops were held including willow weaving, glass fusion, making origami flowers, spoon puppets, jewellery, and ‘on location’ photography. All workshops were oversubscribed with citizens keen to get involved. Very positive feedback was received from all participants and the level and quality of work produced was very impressive.
Wollaton Village Dovecote Museum opened especially for the event and architectural tours of the Campus of the University of Nottingham and nature trail proved popular.
The Wollaton Park Secret Garden tour of Wollaton Hall Old Kitchen Garden was well received, and included interesting stories from the ex-head gardener.
Social events included the ‘Beggar’s Bash’ with folk and rock music, games for all, poetry and a hog roast: although participants could bring their own food and drink and dressing up was optional.
A ‘bring and share picnic’ was held on the show field with a selection of food and music, attended by the Sheriff and Lady Sheriff. Hunter the dinosaur proved very popular and it has since been suggested that the Arts Festival needs a mascot. The closing performance was all musical performers coming together to sing ‘so long, farewell’.
Overall the Festival was an amazing success with many requests for repeat and further activities in future years. Volunteers are keen to start working towards next year’s events. The hard work and support of Neighbourhood Development Officer Lylse-Anne Renwick and University intern Carmen, were much appreciated, as was the contribution of all volunteers.
The Chair welcomed the presentation and applauded the hard work and effort of organising the festival which, being held at a variety of venues across Wollaton, ensured accessibility for everyone. It is hoped that future years may include venues in Lenton Abbey too. It is recognised that lottery funding massively helped to expand the festival and whilst further applications will be made in future, alternative funding is needed and sponsorship needs to be investigated. As the arts Festival has proved so successful and positive, seeking sponsorship and/or engagement from local and city businesses should be considered.
The involvement of the University was much appreciated and bookings for the architectural and nature tours far exceeded available places. In addition, although the festival was held at time when most students had left the area, it was very helpful for residents to feel that the University is part of their community. It is hoped that the enthusiastic management of the University’s community engagement team will provide future opportunities to visit the University sites and encourage more community interaction.
The chair thanked Sue and Peter for the presentation and applauded everybody who had worked so very hard towards the success of the festival.