Kenilworth Festival on the hunt for local talent - The Leamington Observer

Kenilworth Festival on the hunt for local talent

Leamington Editorial 7th Jul, 2017   0

KENILWORTH Arts Festival has launched a series of new competitions designed to give local musicians, performers and actors a chance to put themselves in the spotlight at the annual event.

This year’s week-long festival celebration of creative arts runs from September 17 to 23 with events staged at venues across the town.

And festival organisers are offering unsigned bands the chance to play the opening set on the main stage at Fiesta – a free, outdoor event hosted in Abbey Fields – which kicks off the festival on the opening Sunday.

The winners will perform to a crowd of hundreds and work with a professional sound team. They will share the billing with performers including Treetop Flyers, Low Chimes and Kizzy Crawford.




The festival has also teamed up with touring arts foundation Live & Local to launch an open call for theatre artists and performers to showcase their work at Fiesta.

Festival spokeswoman Charlotte Thomas said: “This is a unique opportunity for new and developing artists and companies to either perform a totally new piece of work, or a piece that has been recently created and would benefit from being piloted at a community event.


“We want artists to bring high-energy performances which will entertain, excite and engage with the community.” Successful applications will receive funding.

The festival is also encouraging budding young writers to get involved, having formed a partnership with Warwickshire Libraries’ Young Writers Workshops scheme.

The workshops are open to 16 to 25 year olds and will be taking place at Kenilworth Library on Saturday mornings throughout the summer.

The young writers will have a chance to perform their work at Fiesta, as well as at a dedicated showcase on the Thursday at the Talisman Theatre in Kenilworth.

Charlotte said the festival was putting a real emphasis on uncovering local talent this year.

“These are three fantastic opportunities for people to get involved with the festival as practising artists.

“We’re so looking forward to being able to uncover and showcase the talent and creativity in Kenilworth and the wider community through these exciting schemes.

“We’re also thrilled to have forged important partnerships with Live & Local and Warwickshire Libraries and we hope to increase our presence within the community this summer and in years to come.”

The deadline for applications to the unsigned band competition and the theatre competition is July 31

Visit www.kenilworthartsfestival.co.uk/get-involved for full details, including application forms and contact details, for all the competitions.

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