Lift-off for arts festival

The first Kidderminster Arts Festival has been organised by Wyre Forest District Council and will offer a range of workshops, events and performances.district arts and play development officer Julie Mayor gets to grips with organising KAF at Severn Valley Railway which will host one of the events.

Organisers hope it will eventually gain international recognition and boost the district's tourist industry and economy.

Activities arranged for the jam-packed 54-day event, which kicks off on July 29, include native American art, dance and music, African drumming, street art and circus skills.

The £6,000 festival, funded by a £2,500 West Midlands Arts Council grant and the district council and backed by the Shuttle/Times and News, will see performances by more than 100 national and international professional performers from as far afield as Tanzania.

Groups from Wyre Forest will also play an important role in the festival and organisers are appealing for more to come forward.

Wyre Forest arts and play development officer Julie Mayor, who has organised the event, said: "If there are people who want to get involved they should get in touch.

"If there's a group of belly-dancers out there who have never shown anyone their talent then this is an opportunity for them!"

The arts extravaganza opens with a bhangra dancing workshop and comic ballroom dancing by a street theatre company and will end on September 20 with an exhibition of work by internationally acclaimed Tenbury Wells artist Paul Langford.

Creative arts adviser to the district council, Paul Hawkins, said he hoped KAF would eventually become a major attraction.

"It's a great programme of diverse events for everybody and we want to establish it as an international event, which will hopefully help bring tourists and money into the town for years to come."

Miss Mayor said the festival aimed to fill a gap in the arts and she hoped it would enable people to discover new talents and interests.

"I think because Kidderminster has never had an arts festival, it will be a good chance for as many people as possible to experience workshops and things they may not have usually seen," she said.

"I am hoping people may discover things that they did not know about - that there may be some budding DJs or bhangra dancers out there who would not know about it unless they attended some of the events."

She added: "The programme has been organised so there is a diverse selection, hoping to appeal to as many as possible.

"The kind of entertainment that has been provided would not be out of place anywhere - you could see some of the performers in Covent Garden or any major city festival."

Miss Mayor, who has worked on the district council for just seven weeks, previously worked for the National Museums and Galleries of Liverpool and helped to organise the Mersey River Festival.

"I think it's going to be great to add colour to the streets of Kidderminster," she said.

"I am really looking forward to people's reactions to it and receiving feedback about what people think.

"The event will be unique to Kidderminster but there is an international arts festival circuit we're hoping that in years to come Kidderminster will be able to fall into."

She said booking of tickets and places in the workshops had already begun and many of the events would be free to watch.

"It is a chance to put art where it might not usually be and because of that reach new people," she said.

"We hope that ideas simmering for years will come to fruition under the KAF banner and the festival will entertain and involve people for many years to come."

For more information contact Miss Mayor on 01562 732977.

LIFT-OFF FOR ARTS FESTIVAL