Ahead of the Game Festival 2012
The Ahead of the Game Festival is the culmination of four years of cultural events in West Sussex inspired by the London 2012 Games. Between July and September 2012, West Sussex will host a programme of bold, bright and ambitious cultural events. The festival will feature the five main projects from the Ahead of the Game cultural programme:
Blue Touch Paper Carnival
Blue Touch Paper Carnival is an internationally pioneering initiative started in West Sussex, to create opportunities for people with disabilities to make top quality Carnival in an accessible way, so that everyone can take part. Led by the Blue Hub-bubble, working with Nick Jenkins for Horsham District Council, Sarah Pickthall of Cusp Inc, The New Carnival Company on the Isle of Wight, British Samba bateria, Bloco do Sul and Rio de Janeiro’s leading disabled Samba company, Embaixadores da Alegria, Blue Touch Paper is creating an amazing Brazilian-style spectacle to celebrate the London 2012 Games and Paralympics.
See the Blue Touch Paper Carnival participants parade at:
Brighton Festival Children’s Parade
Saturday 5 May 2012, 10.30am, Kensington Street, Brighton BN1
Isle of Wight Arts Parade
Saturday 30 June 2012, 12.00pm, Simeon Street Recreation Ground, Ryde IOW PO33
Sparks in the Park
Sunday 15 July 2012, 12.00pm, Horsham Park, North Street, Horsham RH12 1RL
One Hackney Festival – part of London 2012 Festival
Saturday 21 July 2012 – timings to be announced, Clissold Park, Stoke Newington, London N16
All events are FREE. For information visit www.btpcarnival.co.uk or search for Blue Touch Paper Carnival on Facebook.
Beginning at twilight and ending in darkness, you will walk through woodland, on a site that reputedly inspired William Blake's words for Jerusalem, to a programme of a capella song by more than 150 singers from specially created choirs giving a unique experience of the landscape. The concept is inspired by the largest amateur choral event in the world, which takes place in the Estonian forest. Our songs are linked to the landscape and draw from the polyphonic singing traditions of the world.
The sixty-minute programme will include two Whispering Woods commissions, Goro Le by iconic Bulgaian composer Kiril Todorov and White Stars, Green Leaves by award-winning Sussex-born young composer Lynne Plowman, with special arrangements of two English folk songs by folk doyenne Anna Tabbush. Created in partnership with the Edward James Foundation at West Dean College and Gardens.
Whispering Woods: Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 July 2012, 8.30pm, St Roche's Arboretum, West Dean Gardens, West Dean, Chichester PO18 0RX. Tickets available from Chichester Festival Theatre box office - 01243 781312. Please check our event listings for dates.
Dromos Travelling Festival
Dromos Festival will be popping up across West Sussex this July! With our eclectic mix of theatre, dance, music, street performance, circus and workshops there will be something for the whole family to enjoy. Our team of young producers, supported by experienced industry professionals have sourced some of the most stunning rural locations in which to showcase talent from local communities alongside new and established performers from across the country. It's the perfect opportunity to be a part of what's best in West Sussex, and beyond. Expect a relaxed atmospere and a fun family day out.
Saturday 7 July, 12-5pm, Tilgate Park, Crawley RH10 5PQ
Sunday 15 July, 12-6pm, Church Farm, Coombes BN15 0RS
Saturday 21 July, 12-5pm, Horsham Park, Horsham Rh12 1RL
Watch out for Dromos at the East Grinstead Torch Relay event on the morning of 17 July! All events are FREE, no booking required. Find out more at www.dromosfestival.co.uk.
The Seed
Part theatre and part online mystery, The Seed is a real world treasure hunt of the grandest proportions. Inspired by true stories of the intrepid Victorian plant hunters, The Seed asks a new breed of hunter to follow clues and claim the lost treasure. Help our heroine in her quest online as she struggles to find the Seed and prevent her world from falling apart.
Come and see one or all four theatrical performances in the Great Gardens of Sussex. Each one contains different clues, characters and encounters. The Seed Online Game launches 28 May 2012. To join the hunt visit www.goatandmonkey.co.uk/seed
The Seed - One For Sorrow: Saturday 9 & 10 June 2012, 10.30, 12.00, 2.00, 3.30, 4.45, Nymans Gardens, Haywards Heath RH17 6EB
The Seed - The Lost Fortune: Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 June, 10.30, 12.00, 2.00, 3.30, 5.00, High Beeches Gardens, Haywards Heath RH17 6HQ
The Seed - Fool's Gold: Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 July 2012, 10.45, 12.30, 2.45, 4.30, Wakehurst Place, Haywards Heath RH17 6TN
The Seed - The Burning Gardens: Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 July 2012, 8.15pm, Borde Hill Gardens Haywards Heath RH16 1XP
Tickets available from Chichester Festival Theatre www.cft.org.uk/other-events or call 01243 781312
The Child & The Magic
A bold new production of Ravel's remarkable forty-five minute children's opera, set in a spectacular big-top in the maginificant setting of Bignor Park within the South Downs National Park. Featuring international professional singers, a thirty-five piece youth orchestra of the best musicians in the county and talented adult and childrens chorus, performing under the Music Direction of David Jones, (Edinburgh Festival Chorus, English National Opera, Welsh Royal College of Music and Drama).
In a brilliant score that takes in twenty-seven pieces of music there isn't a moment to spare as a young boy, driven to boredom to destroying the objects and taunting the animals he loves, unleashes a magic spell bringing them to life in a phantasmagorical parade, to teach him a lesson. Devised by Karen Howard (Scottish Opera, Music Theatre Wales, University of Chichester) working with designer Atlanta Duffy (The Lion & The Jewel, V&A, Lyric Hammersmith) and integrating digital animation by award-winning animator Mark Charlton this will be a thrilling new way to eperience Ravel's colourful and comic masterpiece. Created in partnership with Bignor Park Ltd
The Child and The Magic: Wednesday 19 to Sunday 23 September 2012, 7.30pm, matinees Saturday & Sunday at 3pm, Bignor Park, Pulborough RH20 1HG.
Tickets avilable from Chichester Festival Theatre www.cft.org.uk/other-events or call 01243 781312
