Warrington’s communities are coming together this month to present a spectacular creative festival – and you can join in the creative fun, too!
Get Creative Festival
The Get Creative Festival, an annual, national programme that celebrates creativity in local communities, will this year take place online due to coronavirus restrictions.
Culture Warrington and the council are therefore teaming up with communities and professional artists from across the area to deliver a range of unmissable creative activities, including art workshops, animation sessions, dance workouts, poetry performances and music tutorials.
The festival can be accessed through Culture Warrington’s social media channels, with different sessions posted every day between Friday 8 and Sunday 17 May.
The varied programme will include:
- an art masterclass from local artist Marc Turner, where participants will recreate one of the paintings on display in Warrington Museum and Art Gallery
- an embossing workshop from The Little Art House using a foil tray
- art tutorials from local art academy, Blooming Art
- music and photography sessions from community arts group, Creative Remedies
- Warrington Museum’s own ‘Crafternoon’ sessions, including a VE Day special
A key highlight of the festival will be poetry showcase Little Pieces, produced by local acting and media studio, Ludovico and aired by Radio Warrington. The programme will feature the work of winners of Radio Warrington’s recent poetry competition, performed and recorded at home by a number of Warrington’s actors who are staying at home.
Darren Jeffries of Ludovico said, “Little Pieces is a beautiful, varied collection touching on a variety of themes, and we’re extremely grateful to everyone involved for taking the time to work on them. This is a real home-grown project!”
Get creative in your own way
Alongside the scheduled activity of online arts and culture, residents are also being encouraged to roll up their sleeves and get creative in their own homes.
Cllr Maureen McLaughlin, cabinet member for culture, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Culture Warrington to present this year’s festival. We’ve had to respond to the challenge of coronavirus, but I’m really pleased that we have been able to work with our partners to create a series of comprehensive, engaging and – most importantly – fun events and sessions.
“I’d also like to encourage people to get creative at home in other ways. Could you create some postcards and send them to your local care home? Could you create some window art to make your neighbours smile? Or perhaps write a poem or story to share with your friends and families?
“As social distancing restrictions continue, it is more important than ever to keep our minds and bodies active. Cultural activities such as these can make a real difference to our wellbeing so I’d encourage as many people as possible to get involved and let their imaginations run wild!”
Emma Hutchinson, managing director of Culture Warrington, said: “We’re so excited to present such a fantastic line-up for this year’s festival.
“All of the artists are well-known and respected in both the community and the industry, so it’s a real pleasure to be working with them to present Get Creative at home.”
For more information about Get Creative, follow @culturewarrington on Facebook or @Culture_WA to join in this year’s activities.
