Warrington people are being invited to showcase their creativity and help build community connections for this year’s Get Creative Festival.
The 2021 Festival, ‘Get Creative & Make a Difference’ – which runs from Saturday 8th – Sunday 16th May – will focus on creative activities that have social connectedness at their heart.
Recognising the impact that Covid-19 has had on people’s lives over such a long time, this year’s campaign will prioritise creative activities that have ‘social connectedness’ at their heart, and will promote activities that support those at risk of experiencing loneliness or isolation.
It follows the success of the #GetCreativeAtHome campaign in 2020, which encouraged people across the UK to find a creative activity to enjoy during a difficult and unusual period.
For this year’s festival, the many people who have used their time during lockdowns or while shielding to learn a new creative skill are being invited to share these, online, with the wider community.
Warrington residents can get involved in this year’s festivities by following Culture Warrington’s Get Creative programme on social media, and sharing their new creative skills by uploading photos and videos with the hashtag #GetCreativeinWarrington2021.
By getting involved, people can showcase how they have been staying connected with family, ‘bubble’ or work colleagues by getting creative. Remember to tag Culture Warrington and Warrington Borough Council in your posts!
It will give local people the perfect opportunity to celebrate all the new creative skills they have gained throughout the pandemic – from making bread to baking cakes, and from improving drawing skills through online tutorials, to learning dance moves with Oti Mabuse.
Throughout the festival, Culture Warrington will be sharing through their social media platforms some of the creative activity that has been taking place over the last 12 months which is helping people to stay connected and supporting positive mental health. This year’s Get Creative programme is expected to feature a wide range of creative talent – including painting, pottery, cooking, dancing, singing, drawing and more.
Warrington Borough Council’s Head of Inclusive Growth and Partnerships, Eleanor Blackburn, said: “While it hasn’t been possible to come together physically to enjoy creative activities over the past year, it’s so important that we continue use the power of creativity to offer means of connecting and sharing with other people, wherever possible.
“This year’s Get Creative celebrations give us a fantastic opportunity to do just that. Creativity can greatly benefit our mental health and wellbeing – and sharing it with everyone is a great way of inspiring, uplifting and connecting people across our communities.
“What we produce doesn’t have to be perfect, so long as we enjoyed doing the activity. We are definitely very interested in any ‘bloopers’, which demonstrate that the Get Creative Festival is about ‘having-a-go’, trying something different and having fun!”
Leah Biddle, Cultural Manager at Culture Warrington, added: “We hope that you will join in with this year’s Get Creative festival by sharing your creations on social media and tagging Culture Warrington.
“Anyone can get involved, from complete beginners to established artists. We are excited to see what has been keeping you busy and the creative skills you have developed during lockdown.”
To find out more about Get Creative in Warrington, follow @culturewarrington on Facebook or @Culture_WA on Twitter.
