Arundel Festival of the Arts is moving from the streets to the screens for 2020 to help showcase and keep alive the wonderful tradition of arts, entertainment, culture, community events and businesses in the town with a diverse taster of the normal programme that will appeal to all generations.
The show will go on – just not as we know it! As with all things in these Covid times, the newly-branded Arundel Festival of the Arts has had to adapt quickly to still be able to be a presence in the lives of its audience. Instead of giving in to the difficult circumstances the dedicated committee, led by Sharon Blaikie, decided to rise to the challenge.
So a Virtual Showcase has been born. Bringing together the wide range of exciting talent the town has to offer to make it happen – from the outstanding artists, performers and sound technicians (Thunderaudio) to the exceptional collaborative brand designer (Sue Roberston), web designer (Karl Salter), social media expert (Hannah Armstrong) and film production team (beechtobeach) sourced through Arundel’s creative community Akin, with support from Arundel Town Council.
The new-style festival is ready for kick-off with filming commencing at the end of July. During the 10 days of what would have been the festival-in-our streets – August 21st-31st will see 10 Virtual Showcase programmes being launched at 20.20pm every night on Arundel Festival of the Arts new YouTube channel.
“We knew it was too risky to put on live acts all over the town but with so much talent and creativity in our community and beyond we didn’t want 2020 to be cancelled altogether. This way we can keep our audience entertained, promote Arundel and its businesses and create content to keep up interest for 2021. The atmosphere of support and ‘can-do’ is amazing.” says Sharon Blaikie and, “despite needing to maintain distance and work within a strict timetable, we managed some stunning performances which I think will forever delight our online audiences with a vibrant representation of what’s to come whilst protecting everyone from the safety of their own homes. We’ve used this challenging time wisely to present and support the whole town in the best way possible – as a cultural arts centre and a wonderful place to visit – promoting its businesses, community groups, attractions and artists, placing Arundel on the map of the world! We are growing the new brand and will emerge strong and resilient in the years ahead. Positivity has shone through.”
beechtobeach Director and producer Jane Mote said the challenge had been enormous. “The logistics and scale of what we were trying to do on limited resources was stretching us all, but the goodwill of all the artists and performers and the commitment of the Festival committee of volunteers made the impossible seem possible. The most important thing was our audience – we wanted as many people as possible to get a taste of the festival to wet their appetites for 2021 when the town will be bursting back to full festival life.”
Places to watch the exclusive content form the Virtual showcase:
YouTube – Behind the scenes content and tasters now with new episodes from August 21 every night 20.20pm –https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGQ3VGmVG6SIP4rTNO_Va2Q
Facebook @ArundelFestival – https://www.facebook.com/ArundelFestival
Twitter – @ArundelFestival
Instagram – Arundel Festival
Website – www.arundelfestival.co.uk
A huge amount of work has been put in by the committee, volunteers and organisations behind the scenes to ensure the community spirit of this unique festival is kept alive and this is being embraced by the residents and businesses for which we are grateful.
Arundel Businesses will be awarding amazing prizes every night to viewers who comment online about the shows.
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