Special week of activities leads to Create Festival

A week of special events will build up to this year’s Create Festival.

From Friday, July 14, there will be art projects, tall tales, street entertainers and more.

These aim to build up the excitement for the free music festival, which brings thousands to Victoria Park.

Festival organiser Chris Dixon said: “Create Platform will launch this year and it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase even more of Ashford’s talent and help build the buzz.”

A selection of art projects celebrating the life of Ashford’s most famous fish, Two Tone, will be found around town for the week If you’re looking for a thrilling story, the Ashford Tales will lead residents around town with dark tales, heroic deeds and stories of sheer idiocy.

On the evening of Saturday, July 16, Ray Foulk, who organised the original and legendary Isle of Wight Festival in 1969, will be giving a talk on the extraordinary events of that festival and how he “stole Dylan from Woodstock”.

The talk will be accompanied by a live set from folk singersongwriter Julie Felix.

If you’re looking to get in a musical mood there’ll be a ska DJ night at Stag Coffee in the High Street on Thursday, July 20, and a Bowie tribute show at Revelation in St Mary’s Church the next evening. Cllr Mike Bennett, Ashford Borough Council portfolio holder for culture, said: “Create is growing year by year, and whilst it has always hosted a range of spin-off events, Create Platform is a nice way to bring it all together.” Mr Doodle will be setting up a temporary studio in the Park Mall shopping centre to create his unique scribblings and there will be a series of other fun filled activities. For full programme, see createfestival.co.uk