Creating Southend’s Carnival Story for London 2012 Festival

Bringing together five communities in the East of England, Carnival Crossroads "East Bound" is a regional arts project that is creating a carnival extravaganza for London 2012 Festival.

The project is funded by Arts Council England and Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Following the success of last year's project, Carnival Crossroads, which formed a spectacular contribution to Southend-on-Sea's carnival, has a new and exciting artistic theme "East Bound" that will capture and create a showcase of local history, celebrating local pride and telling this story through the creative world of carnival arts.

Local participants from Southend will be working together in workshops and pop-up Mas Camps with local and national carnival artists to design, create and perform carnival arts, floats, music, dance and costume.

The project is being directed by Pax Nindi, a renowned carnival expert and will be bringing on board 5 national lead designers to work with local carnival artists and communities to create a local carnival arts story to form part of the East's contribution to the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival through carnival.

The project is working closely with partners at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and Southend-on-Sea Carnival.

Helen Lax, Regional Director Arts Council England, said: 'This is a great opportunity for people to come together to create carnival art in the region.

The London 2012 Festival will be the largest celebration of art and culture this country has ever seen, and a once in a lifetime experience, so 'East Bound' is certain to be a spectacular project, that will inspire communities and groups to work together.'  

The finale will bring together 100 participants from each local area involved to create a 500-strong carnival procession, with Brazilian-style float.

This carnival finale will tell the local historical tales of Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge Southend and Luton all together in an East of England 'story' as part of the Luton Carnival Parade, the final destination of the Olympic Flame before it leaves the Eastern Region.

There will be elements of music, dance, and performance for everyone to get involved.  

We are seeking collaboration and participation from local community groups, schools, FE and HE colleges and volunteers; and to galvanize interest and participation in this exciting project.  

To learn more about this project and how to get involved, we are holding an information event on Tuesday 22nd November at 18.00 until 20.00 at Metal at Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS0 8NB.

Whether a carnival artist, involved with a community group, or just interested in being involved, come along to hear more, ask any questions and speak to us about how to get involved.

This project has been developed in five locations accross the East of England: Norwich, Southend, Cambridge, Ipswich and Luton.   

Through this project, UKCCA is supporting local and regional carnival artists, musicians, dancers and performers by bringing a new dimension to professional carnival art collaboration.

We will be working in creative partnership with a group of national lead carnival artists, designers, musicians and choreographers and with professional Brazilian artists to support the design and creation of the spectacular main Brazilian style float.  

Local involvement in the project will include:

• Participating in local 'workshops' and later on in pop-up Mas Camps to discover, design and create Southend's carnival story through carnival arts;
• Learn the skills needed to get involved, such as float-making, choreography and costume-making;
• Provide an exciting platform upon which they can showcase their creations and new skills in their local communities and as part of London 2012 Festival performance taking place in Luton on 8th July 2012.   

The project will run from November 2011 to July 2012. An overview of the timetable of activity is below:

November	December	January	February
Come to one of our roadshow events to hear all about the project	Sign up to participate and get everyone together (Mid-Dec)	Skills masterclasses for local artists: Float making Choreography Music Design	Community, schools and youth groups participate in  workshops to design and create the costumes and floats

 

March	April	May	June	July
Community, schools and youth groups participate in  workshops to design and create the costumes and floats         Dance and music creation Bringing Brazilian artists on board to create the main float	Local exhibitions of creations Getting volunteers involved Rehearsals	Rehearsals and London 2012 Festival performance

UK Centre for Carnival Arts

As a national arts charity, the UK Centre for Carnival Arts is the only dedicated organisation and centre of its kind, promoting excellence within the field of carnival arts in all its professional forms - from Mas, music and movement, to circus, multi-media, performance and site specific street arts throughout the UK. 

Arts Council England  

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people's lives.

We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries - from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections.

Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better.

Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/  

Legacy Trust UK  

Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity that was set up to build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  

Under the banner of Eastern Rising, Legacy Trust UK are supporting Aldeburgh Music, Cambridge Film Trust, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and UKCCA to deliver spectacular outdoor events across the East of England in 2012 as a major part of the Cultural Olympiad. Eastern Rising is using the opportunity and inspiration provided by London 2012 to raise the region's profile and reputation for major cultural events to new heights by developing the quality and social and community reach of a portfolio of leading events.  

For further information please contact Caroline Lawson, Regional Programme Manager carolineltuk@gmail.com .