The Big Sing is a huge outdoor participatory music event led by the renowned international gospel singer, conductor and composer, Ken Burton (X Factor, Choir of the Year, Songs of Praise) which will cover a variety of different genres including rock, pop and classical music.

There is also the opportunity to win £500 for anyone who would like to compose an ‘Anthem for Kingston’ which will be premiered at The Big Sing and at other high profile events in Kingston’s Cultural Olympiad programme. The competition will be administered by Dr David Osbon, Head of Collegiate Music, Kingston University, please see attached details for more information.

Full details and information on how to get involved are available here

Come and join the hunt for the lost places of Kingston, who knows what can be found? A dancing bicycle, a plane crash, an upside down umbrella? We shall see…

ANIMATE Festival will be running events on Mondays and Thursday from 16th February 2012 through to March 24th 2012.

There will be extra special things happening on the 3rd March and the 24th March.

Many involved were keen to praise the role of IYAF in enabling them to test and hone their acts. David Hooper, Producer of One Fine Day, with a ‘Must See’ Award from The Stage, said: “The festival was a vital part of our rehearsal process. It allowed us to test the performance in a safe environment, and the feedback we received from audiences helped us identify how we might refine the show. This ensured it was of the highest quality before going onto Edinburgh.”

Little Cauliflower’s Street Dreams, which ran for two nights at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, has proven a major hit, receiving five star reviews from Broadway Baby, The Daily Dust and The New Current, and four stars from The Scotsman, What’s On Stage, Fringe Review and Edinburgh Spotlight. David Pollock of The Scotsman described it as ‘one of the most inventive and endearing shows on the Fringe’, and Broadway Baby said it was “a touching, funny and thoroughly slick production.” Little Cauliflower highlighted the value of performing at IYAF first. “We had a fantastic weekend performing at the Rose Theatre,” said William Aubrey-Jones of Little Cauliflower.  “We sold out both dates, had a great time and found the staff of IYAF really supportive, even following the festival and look forward to working with everyone in the future. The feedback we received really helped us to develop the production.”

Roar, produced by Dumbshow, is part of Creative Youth’s “Creative Talent Programme”, which rovides strategic mentoring and support to selected groups. It has also received rave reviews, such as from Nick Awde of The Stage Edinburgh, who wrote: “Dumbshow exhibits an impressive pool of talent here and, given that development, I’d pay good money to see this at the National.”  Michael Bryher, Artistic Director  described IYAF’s help as a ‘godsend.’ “We couldn’t have achieved what we have done without them,” he said. “To put trust in a young company to develop their work is so, so important. IYAF took a leap of faith in us, for which we are extremely grateful.  Previewing our work before Edinburgh was massively beneficial, and has resulted in a much stronger piece, which we will continue to develop.”

Aniela Zaba, Artistic Director for Creative Youth, was not only delighted to see IYAF performers succeed at the Fringe, but is also happy for the Festival to develop a reputation among artists as a ‘testing ground’ for those heading north of the border. “Obviously it is very pleasing to see these amazing young talents get the recognition they deserve,” she said. “But what is equally pleasing is that the International Youth Arts Festival was able to play an important role in helping them to achieve this success. IYAF gives young people the space and support to play, experiment and take chances in a creative environment surrounded by those willing to give feedback. This vindicates our approach which is to nurture and inspire young people to challenge themselves to produce the very best work they are capable of.”

The International Youth Arts Festival (IYAF) is rapidly becoming one of the largest and most diverse youth events in the country.  From 29^th June -22 July 2012 the streets and venues of Kingston will come alive as young people from the ages of 5 to 26 showcase the very best in youth arts selected from the UK and Internationally.

For the first time the International Youth Arts Festival will open with a week of participatory projects, workshops and schools engagement work (29^th June – 5^th July).  The latter part of the festival will be the celebration which we have all come to love!  18 days of performances, exhibitions and showcases of incredible youth work from around the world in addition to special events which culminate the projects delivered in the first week.  Applications are encouraged for both parts of the festival as are projects which can deliver engagement at the beginning of the festival, followed by a performance element in the second part.

Applications are open to any arts projects involving young people (0yrs – 26yrs).  These projects may involve young people as performers, creators and artists or as producers and event managers.  IYAF is also happy to receive applications for adult work which is specifically targeted at young people.

As a special gift to all our participants, any young people participating in the festival will be able to attend ANY other productions at no cost.

Full details are available by clicking on the IYAF 2012 – Participate tab or by clicking on the following links:

Click here to download the Application to participate form for 2012

Click here to download the Guidelines for applicants 2012

In addition the reaction from the media present was equally encouraging both for the show and for the high quality and diversity of this year’s Festival. As the Press Association said, “This Festival has really put Kingston on the map.”

 Matthew Pateman, Professor of Contemporary Popular Aesthetics, Head of Performance and Screen Studies at Kingston University, London said “I wanted to say ‘Thank You’ for last night. The production was exactly what theatre should be: bold, brave, beautiful. At times it was challenging, at others foot-stompingly delightful. I am so proud to be associated with a festival that actually programmes shows that speak directly to its core constituents – youth. That said, the play is a wonderful engagement with questions that persist, and  the gorgeous moment when the two unpleasant teachers started to dance as manically as their charges, showing the ‘youthfulness’  in us all, was both funny and moving. I cannot commend the play, the production or the festival highly enough.”

 The International Youth Arts Festival is only possible through the support we receive from organisations, businesses and individuals and we are extremely grateful to all our supportes. After seven days of this year’s Festival you can really feel a buzz in the town. The variety already showcased has been phenomenal, from 500 infants on Monday performing songs at the Rose to the wonderful energy of the carnival parade on Sunday which filled the streets with costumed performers and larger than life puppets.  The feedback from participants, audiences and our host venues has been wonderful and we have already engaged with over 2000 young people before the half way point of the festival.

 We do hope that you will be able to attend some of the other events on offer and we look forward to seeing you there. We have produced a daily programme of all the events on offer available on the front page of our website. 

Our heartfelt thanks for your continued support

Robin Hutchinson                 Aniela Zaba

Chairman                                Artistic Director

Creative Youth

Organisers of the International Youth Arts Festival

Kevin Loader handing one of the Birdie Awards to Gloria Daniels-Moss, Borderline. From left to right Alma Andreescu, Stevie Attwood, Gloria Daniels-Moss and Kevin Loader

Last night the latest arrival on the film festival scene, The Birdies Film Festival, captivated the audience at its sold out award ceremony at Odeon cinema in Kingston upon Thames.  The festival, organised by five students from Kingston University and part of this year’s International Youth Arts Festival, showed nine short films by young filmmakers age 19-25 from the sweet story “Apple Pie” to the hilarious knitted world of a postman in “The Little Red Plane” and the harrowing apocalyptic film “Oblivion” from Greece.

The awards were handed out by Hollywood producer Kevin Loader, “History Boys” and “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin”, and currently producing two films – Andrea Arnold’s version of “Wuthering Heights” (due out in the autumn this year), and Roger Michell’s “Hyde Park on Hudson”, to star Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt, which begins shooting later in July.

Kevin Loader said:”It was a great pleasure to see the films in The Birdies Film Festival. It is so important for young people to share their screen stories with one another and you can tell from the audience tonight, that there was a real report between the filmmakers and their audience. And they are the future so we should all be paying attention.”

More pictures of the night.

Follow the Birdies on facebook!

Creative Youth, organisers of the International Youth Arts Festival staged one of the most imaginative events yet seen at the Rose Theatre on Tuesday 12 January. Sponsored by John Lewis Kingston, the Royal Borough of Kingston and Lidl, a specially invited audience comprising the Mayor, local councillors, sponsors, businesses and Creative Youth’s President, HRH The Earl of Wessex KG KCVO, were treated to an exceptional showcase of work from young people that drew a standing ovation in response to a specially devised performance entitled ‘From Amazon’ featuring students from Southborough and Coombe Boys’ Schools.

Creating a new name and vision

The evening was introduced by Robin Hutchinson, Chair of Creative Youth and Aniela Zaba, Artistic Director. Robin Hutchinson explained that the Charity’s new name, Creative Youth, had been chosen to reflect the organisation’s three main aims which were to:

• enable young people to realise their potential through the arts
• develop young people by equipping them with the skills and confidence to succeed in business and the arts
• celebrate the achievements of young people in the arts worldwide through the International Youth Arts Festival

He also thanked the borough, the University, Kingston College, Kingston Music Service and sponsors such as John Lewis, BT and HSBC for their tremendous support and vision in helping Creative Youth to develop into an organisation that could plan a year round programme of activities, which would culminate in the annual International Youth Arts Festival.

Invitation To Get Involved

Both Cassie Johnson, volunteer coordinator and Chike Okonkwo, Kingston-born actor and patron of Creative Youth spoke in support of the opportunities that were being created for young people, not just from Kingston, but nationally and Internationally and asked for other businesses and potential sponsors to think about how they could get involved.

Kingston Youth Big Band opened the showcase with a stunning rendition of the Nora Jones classic,
“I don’t know why I didn’t come,” featuring a touching solo by Letitia Shiels.  The audience were also treated to a breathtaking display of aerial acrobatics on silks by Katie Hardwick from Circus Suburbia, accompanied by Festival favourite, singer-song writer Little Sister Blue and music in the Café programmed by Our Friends Records.

From Amazon – a visual feast comparable to War Horse

However, it was clear from the audience’s reaction that the centrepiece of the evening, ‘From Amazon’, a story devised in only 20 hours of workshops, surpassed all expectations. The piece tells of the need to respect the planet through the story of a young boy opening a package to discover that the contents contain creatures and the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest superbly brought to life by an array of colourful puppets, created in the workshops. What the audience hadn’t expected, were puppets that would rival the beauty and complexity of those created for War Horse.

Magically lit and standing 12 feet tall, one of the silver puppets was so visually arresting it drew gasps of delight as it glided ethereally across the stage. Requiring strength, cooperation and a deftness of touch, the five boys expertly operated the puppet, as did all the other boys in this ensemble performance. The climax of the piece included two exceptional dances pieces choreographed by Bode Lawal of Sakoba Dance performed by Kingston College students and pupils from both schools.

The performance, imagination and the sentiment behind ‘From Amazon’ clearly touched everyone judging by the rapturous response from the audience.

Earl of Wessex commends uniqueness of Creative Youth

The showcase was closed by Creative Youth’s President, HRH The Earl of Wessex. In his speech he paid tribute to all the young performers involved in the evening’s showcase and the energy and vision demonstrated by Creative Youth. The Earl said he was particularly pleased to hear that Creative Youth were branching out to offer year-round opportunities to engage with young people at a particularly difficult time for the arts. However, he said that this was often when ‘great art was produced and what you are doing in Kingston is unique, there is no other festival of its kind in the country and Kingston should feel proud that it is taking place right here, in your town.”

All photographs are copyright of TANGLE PHOTOGRAPHY