Arts festival returns to city
MUSICIAN GAZ AND FOUNDER OF COMEDY FEST AMONG PARTICIPANTS
THe South’s frontman Gaz Birtles will get an annual arts festival under way this month.
Back for its 23rd year, De Montfort University’s (DMU) Cultural eXchanges festival will see creative industries come together to take part in a week-long series of events organised by arts and festivals management students.
This year, it will be showcasing upand-coming talent through art, music and drama to help educate about the UK creative industries.
One of the headlining acts, Face the Musician will host a mashup of new indie, rock and R&B artists to Leicester’s Firebug, plus a pre-gig question-and-answer session from Gaz Birtles.
Other events include talks from Leicester Comedy Festival founder and DMU alumnus Geoff Rowe and the founder of Cultural eXchanges, Tony Graves.
There will be modern era-set performance of Romeo and Juliet by Nottingham Shakespeare Company and an industry networking walk and talk at Bradgate Park. Workshops, film screenings and panel discussions will also take place throughout the week.
In the past, the festival has attracted the likes of the ShxtsNGigs podcast, choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne, well-known drag artist Jamie Campbell and iconic fashion designer Katharine Hamnett.
Student organiser Jacob Ward, said: “This year, we’ve tried to think outside the box and come up with ideas that are really creative.
“Last year, students managed to secure the ShxtsNGigs podcast, which is obviously huge, and it was hard because we felt like we had to match that.
“What we’ve done instead is combine all of our own interests and everyone has put in so much effort to come up with something different.
“Like the walk and talk at Bradgate Park. That has never been done before and it’s getting people out into the countryside. It’s forced us to be creative.”
Ahead of the festival, students take care of everything from securing the acts to budgeting and marketing.
Talking about what has gone into the planning of the event, Sharna Clixby said: “We all had very different ideas but we wanted to make sure everyone’s idea was included.
“So, we all sat down and said, ‘right this is how much we’ve got and this is how much this is going to cost.’
If something was out of our budget or not feasible, we’d compromise and negotiate to get the costs down and make it happen to the best of our ability.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the events take place and hearing people say they’ve had a good time.
“All the months of hard work that has gone into it, and seeing people enjoying themselves, is exactly what we want and will all be worth it.”
Jacob added: “I just love being engaged in the arts as a whole and I’m also very passionate about bringing the arts to people and giving people opportunities to witness and create art.
“That’s kind of where I want to go and I feel like I’ve been able to channel that through this festival.
“events are free and if they’re not free, then they’re so much cheaper through the festival.
“For example, the Nottingham Shakespeare Company, that alone is half the price of standard tickets.
“Being able to provide people with free events and opportunities is what I want to do in the future.”
The festival will take place from Monday, February 26 until Friday, March 1 and is sponsored by Unite Students.