Women find voice as they swap clothes – and stories
Band feels good about winning festival slot
AWOMEN- ONLY ‘clothes and stories swap’ is set to return after the first event was hailed as ‘fantastic’.
Around 200 women attended the event at Touchstones museum, which was run by Theatre in Flow, a theatre company based on Moss Bridge Road in April.
Women were encouraged to bring their old clothes and share the stories around them in an effort to help people appreciate the clothes they have.
Now, the event is set to return to Touchstones on Saturday, June 25 from 1pm to 3pm.
Organiser Mimosa PercyRouhaud, from Theatre In Flow, said the first event was ‘fantastic’ and ‘brilliant’.
She said: “To be honest we had way more people than we were expecting.
“We’ve never done a clothes swap before, we didn’t think people would come.
“People really got on board, they brought their stuff and they did their swaps.
“The women who attended shared stories of items they’ve had for 20 years. ‘I wore this blazer for my interview to work in Debenhams in 1996’ and stories like that. It was brilliant, it was really wonderful.
At the event attendees are given five free tokens to swap for donated clothes as well as an extra token per item they bring along to swap.
Mimosa said the next event aims to be ‘bigger and better’ and added she was hoping for donations from retailers such as Tesco and Footasylum.
Theatre In Flow is committed to the ‘championing of marginalised voices’ and encouraged discussions around body image as part of the event’s craft sessions.
Mimosa said: “There were a lot of conversations around a bikini body. What does having a bikini body mean? Things to do with body confidence and media pressures to look a certain way and how clothes can either fit in with that or go against that kind of thing.
“Feeling good about yourself means a lot. Clothes are how you present yourself to the world so it’s really important.”
Mimosa added that creating a safe, women-only space was important to help vulnerable women.
“They have quite chaotic lives sometimes so having a space designated as supportive is important,” she said.
“Everyone’s there to have a nice time. It’s really beautiful when strangers are going through the rails together and they’re like ‘that would look great on you’. It’s a really collaborative atmosphere.
“It’s a chance to get some free clothes and have a lot of fun. It’s a really nice day out and you get a nice outfit!”
A ROCK band have been awarded a slot on the main stage at this summer’s Rochdale Feel Good Festival after winning first prize in a competition.
Singer Brad Ellor and drummer Jak Marshall from Rochdale and guitarist, Alex Mcardle and keyboard player, Connor Watson-reid from The Sprats, won first prize in this year’s ‘Feel Good – Battle of the Bands’ competition and will open the main stage for the event.
The four-piece, which was only formed in last year, released their debut single in April and have been playing across the region in the last few months.
Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for culture at Rochdale Borough Council, said:
“All six finalists would have put on a great show so it was a difficult decision to pick a winner, but as well as getting good support in the public vote we thought The Sprats would go down very well on the main stage this August.”
The band were short-listed through a Facebook vote before their videos were assessed by the judges - music specialist Rob Kerford - owner of Sonic PR which promotes of some of Europe’s biggest musicians, DJ and new music champion Dave Sweetmore, cabinet member for events councillor Janet Emsley, musician Aziz Ibrahim and councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for culture.
Brad said: “Even though we knew we were in the final it was a big surprise to find out we’d actually won.
“We played our first gig as a band at the beginning of the year, so never expected to be on the same stage as The Fratellis this year. We can’t wait for it and I’m sure our local fans can’t, we’ll definitely be seeing them there.”
The Sprats will be joined by The Fratellis, northern soul band The Northern Soultrain, rock band HAIG, Manchester singer and songwriter Abbie Ozard, choir Sign Along With Us, guitarist and singer and songwriter Aziz Ibrahim, alternative dance band ENTT, indie/ folk duo Firewoodisland and DJ Dave Sweetmore.
Singer and songwriter Jack Carroll from Heywood won the public vote and will be also be on the festival line-up, performing at The Baum on Toad Lane following The Fratellis headline set.
Rochdale Feel Good Festival returns on Saturday, August 13.
Tickets for the main stage (£7) are on sale on Rochdale Feel Good Festival’s website and prospective attendees can book in person at Touchstones Rochdale, Heywood Civic Centre and Middleton Arena.
The festival is funded by the council together with ticket sales and sponsorship from The Lancashire Hospitality Co-operation, Premier Kia, Hopwood Hall College, The Royal Toby Hotel and Metrolink.
Email events@rochdale. gov.uk to get involved.
For festival updates go on Facebook or connect with @Feelgoodfest on Twitter.