Without Walls Associate Touring Network Audience ... · Diwali Leicester 3 workshops - Diwali 222...

Without Walls Associate Touring Network

Audience Development Report 2017

DRAFT FINAL REPORT

Penny Mills

December 2017

© The Audience Agency 2017 1

Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................. 3

Audience Development and Without Walls Associate Touring Network .......................... 3

Partner event dates ....................................................................................... 5

Parnters’ Without Walls Programming 2017 ........................................................... 6

Audience Development Objectives ...................................................................... 8

Overview of target audiences 2016/17 ................................................................. 9

Overview of activities 2016/17 ......................................................................... 11

Workshops delivered 2017 ............................................................................... 13

Analysis of audience development activities 2017 ................................................. 16

2017 Audience Development Activity Summary ..................................................... 22

Bell Square ................................................................................................. 22

SO Festival ................................................................................................. 23

Freedom Festival ......................................................................................... 24

Preston City Council events ............................................................................. 26

Yorkshire Festival/Tour de Yorkshire arts events .................................................... 28

Key Feste, Peterborough ................................................................................ 29

DNweekeND, Doncaster .................................................................................. 30

Derby Feste ................................................................................................ 31

Leicester City Festival and Diwali ...................................................................... 33


Big Feast, Appetite ....................................................................................... 34

Conclusions ................................................................................................. 35

Evaluation .................................................................................................. 37

Areas for development or support through WW ATN ................................................ 38

Appendix .................................................................................................... 39

Response to the work ..................................................................................... 39


Introduction

This report is an overview of the audience development activity undertaken across the festivals and events of the Without Walls Associate

Touring Network (WW ATN) in 2017. Each festival or event has also been provided with an individual report with an overview of its impacts

against objectives. The partner organisations have also undertaken further detailed evaluation of their festivals and events, so should more

information be required these should be referred to.

The purpose of this report is to provide a summary and highlight the activity which was particularly successful or impactful, as well as

indicate the challenges which the festivals and events may face in developing their audience engagement. Finally, it should be noted that

this report does not include detail on digital impact which the festivals and events have reported on, but for which we do not have a

benchmarking structure.

Audience Development and Without Walls Associate Touring Network

The aim of the Associate Touring Network is to increase engagement with and enjoyment of outdoor arts at a regional and national level,

and to collect evidence to inform the development of audiences for the network and for the sector. Specifically:

To extend the reach and benefits of the existing Without Walls programme in areas where there is low engagement with the arts, bringing high-

quality outdoor work to diverse audiences across England.

The audience development objectives are:

• To create opportunities for audiences to experience quality outdoor arts

• To reach diverse audiences

• To create opportunities for festivals to reach out to communities

• To engage with people who typically have low or medium engagement with arts and culture

• To engage in consultation and discussion with audiences to gather feedback


• To collect demographic data to build a nationwide picture of outdoor arts audiences

• To collate and disseminate feedback to festivals to improve audience experience

The festivals and events for the 2016-2018 project are as follows:

• Freedom Festival Hull – ACE NPO

• SO Festival – ACE NPO

• Derby Feste – run by a consortium of organisations in Derby

• Big Feast, Appetite Stoke/New Vic Theatre – Creative People and Places

New members for 2016-18 are:

• City Festival and Diwali Leicester – local authority run – two events

• DNweekeND - run by Right Up Our Street, Doncaster, Creative People and Places

• Key Feste - run by Vivacity, Peterborough

• Bell Square weekend events - run by Watermans, Hounslow, Creative People and Places associated

• Lancashire Encounter – run by Preston local authority (The full Lancashire Encounter runs every two years 2016 and 2018, in 2017

they held a series of events including Egg Rolling, City Centre Street Theatre and Brief Encounter)

• Yorkshire Festival - run by Welcome to Yorkshire (multi-location every two years 2016 and 2018, in 2017 they included arts events

during the Tour de Yorkshire)


Partner event dates

Festival 2016 2017

Bell Square, Hounslow May - Oct May - Oct

SO Festival, East Lindsey 25 June – 3 July 27 June – 2 July

Key Feste, Peterborough 20-21 August & 3-4

September (Arts Festival

and Park Tales)

2-3 September

Yorkshire Festival/ Tour de Yorkshire 1-3 July 28-30 April

Big Feast Festival, Stoke 27-28 August 25-26 August

City Festival and Diwali, Leicester 26-27 August & 21-22

September 11-28 August & 8 October

DNweekeND, Doncaster 3-4 September 9-10 September

Freedom Festival, Hull 3-4 September 1-3 September

Preston City Council events

23-25 September

(Lancashire Encounter)

Egg Rolling 17 April, Street

Theatre 10 June, Brief

Encounter 23 September

Derby Feste 23-25 September 29-30 September


Partners’ Without Walls Programming 2017

It should be noted that the Without Walls programming makes up part of each festival or event’s overall programme. In 2017 there were 17

different shows presented across the 10 areas (involving individually 9 festivals plus events throughout May – December at Bell Square in

Hounslow, 4 of which included Without Walls shows, and multiple events in Lancashire as part of Preston City Council’s programme). In

addition to the main events some of the shows were presented at pre-festival events, so called ‘Taster Tours’ to engage local communities.

In total the Associate Touring Network presented 126 performances of Without Walls shows in 2017.

Festival

Bell S

quare

SO

Fest

ival

Key F

est

e,

Pete

rboro

ugh

Tour

de

York

shir

e

Big

Feast

,

Sto

ke

Leic

est

er

Cit

y

Fest

ival &

Diw

ali

DN

weekeN

D,

Doncast

er

Fre

edom

Fest

ival,

Hull

Pre

ston C

ity

Council

Derb

y F

est

é

Akademi - Sufi-Zen 1

Artizani - Bees! 3 3

Candoco - You and I know 2 2 1

Circus Geeks x Pangottic - Project_Vee 4 4 3 4

Company Chameleon - Of Man and Beast 1 4

Far From The Norm – H. O. H. 2 2 2/4***

Gandini Juggling - 8 songs 2 2

Gobbledegook Theatre - Ear Trumpet 4

Highly Sprung - Urban Astronaut 2 2 4 4 4 1

Joli Vyann – Lance Moi En L’Air 1 2/4*** 3 1 1

Kuljit Bhamra - Chutney 2


Miss High Leg Kick – Audition Project 4 1/2***

New Art Club - Campervan of Love 6 4 4

NoFit State & Motionhouse - Block 2

Periplum - 451 1

Plunge Boom – Vegetable Nannies 4/3*

Wet Picnic - The Lift 2 4 4/3** 2

N.B: Please note that the Bell Square annual programme had not finished when this report was written, and the audience benchmarking

included data from 4 Without Walls artists programmed (not the whole Bell Square annual programme).

*Plunge Boom performed at two of Preston Council’s events - The Egg Rolling and a Taster Tour

**Wet Picnic performed at a Taster Tour event as well as the main DNweekeND in Doncaster

***Far From The Norm, Joli Vyann and Miss High Leg Kick performed in the Big Feast’s Taster Tour as well as at the main festival


Audience Development Objectives

Each year partners were able to claim £8,000 plus VAT to deliver Audience Development activities.

The partners’ objectives were focused on a range of key audience groups. The overriding objective being reaching parts of the community

which have traditionally not engaged with the festivals or events or more generally with culture in their locality:

• Different age ranges in the local population – chiefly 16-24 year olds (including through schools) and elders

• Different geographic areas in the locality – chiefly those which are deprived or areas of low cultural engagement

• BAME communities within the festival or events’ catchment area

• Local families

The partners are also, as might be expected, looking to grow their audiences and encourage them to return year on year and engage further

with their work either by attending, participating or supporting in other ways such as engaging through social media. In 2017 there was a

particular focus on engaging local communities actively in a variety of ways, to give them a greater sense of ownership of the festivals and

events.

Finally, many of the ATN partners, particularly those working as part of or in partnership with Creative People and Places projects, are also

considering how their work supports community cohesion and has wider social impacts.


Overview of target audiences 2016/17

Partners’ priority audiences for audience development activity in addition to more general marketing and promotion

Festival

16-2

4 y

ear

old

s

Schools

Fam

ilie

s

Eld

ers

Local

com

munit

ies

of

least

engagem

ent

Dif

fere

nt

Eth

nic

com

munit

ies

Socia

l M

edia

follow

ers

Oth

er

Bell Square 2016 ✓ ✓

Bell Square 2017 Experience

Seekers

Kaleidoscope

Creativity

SO Festival 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

SO Festival 2017 ✓ ✓

✓ People with

disabilities

Peterborough Arts Festival – Park Tales /

Key Feste 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Peterborough Key Feste 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Yorkshire Festival 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Tour de Yorkshire 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Big Feast Festival, Appetite/New Vic

Theatre 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ People with

disabilities


Big Feast Festival, Appetite/New Vic

Theatre 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ People with

disabilities

City Festival, Leicester / Diwali Leicester

2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

City Festival, Leicester / Diwali Leicester

2017 ✓ ✓ ✓

DNweekeND, Doncaster 2016 ✓ ✓

DNweekeND, Doncaster 2017

✓ ✓ Town centre

residents

Freedom Festival, Hull 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Freedom Festival, Hull 2017

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Newsletter

signups

Lancashire Encounter, Preston 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Preston City Council events 2017

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ Geographic

reach across

Lancashire

Derby Feste 2016 ✓

✓ ✓

Derby Feste 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓


Overview of activities 2016/17

Broad areas focused on as audience development activity as part of the Without Walls ATN programme (which does not necessarily mean

that the activity in 2016 was discontinued as this focuses on where particular resources were focused each year).

Festival

Socia

l

media

/dig

ital

Blo

ggers

/

corr

esp

ondent

Am

bass

adors

Pre

-fest

ival

work

shops

Pre

-fest

ival

part

icip

ati

on –

targ

et

gro

ups

Pre

-fest

ival

tast

er

events

Fam

ily

inte

racti

ve

Skills

develo

pm

ent

Dedic

ate

d

mark

eti

ng



SO Festival 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

SO Festival 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Peterborough Arts Festival – Park Tales / Key Feste

2016

✓ ✓

✓

Key Feste Peterborough 2017 ✓ ✓

Yorkshire Festival 2016 ✓

Tour de Yorkshire arts event 2017 ✓

Big Feast Festival, Appetite 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Big Feast Festival, Appetite 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

City Festival, Leicester / Diwali Leicester 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

City Festival, Leicester / Diwali Leicester 2017 ✓ ✓

DNweekeND, Doncaster 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓


DNweekeND, Doncaster 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Freedom Festival, Hull 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Freedom Festival, Hull 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Lancashire Encounter, Preston 2016 ✓

Preston City Council Events 2017 ✓ ✓ ✓

Derby Feste 2016 ✓ ✓ ✓

Derby Feste 2017 ✓ ✓


Workshops delivered 2017

A total of 121 workshop or audience development events were held across the festivals involving an estimated 4,793 people.

Festivals/events Workshops/ AD events No. people

attended

Bell Square - Ongoing training and support for intern to delivery social

media campaigns

SO Festival 6 days 80 Workshops with older people for cake making

11 days 13 Ambassadors

10 days 100 Artist for family space - pre & during festival

N/A 800 Improving accessibility for festival: plug ins & online

accessibility work

Key Feste, Peterborough 4 workshops 12 Designing a shed both outside and inside, theming it to fit

the festival programme. Participants chose to base their

activities around Highly Sprung’s Urban Astronaut, with an

artist they designed and spray painted a large astronaut

inside

1 day 72 Festival flags in city centre, participants made flags from

dowel, electrical tape and coloured crepe paper. Due to the

bad weather not as many people participated as

anticipated.

1 day 300 approx. Company Chameleon, only danced one performance

although it was 5:15 so caught people leaving the shopping

Centre – pre-festival taster

2 days 380 Graffiti Stencils


2 days 230 Spraying boards

Tour de Yorkshire 8- Scarborough 200-est Giant cycle jersey making

5-Tadcaster 150-est Bike decorating with a children’s bike parade

5-Harrogate 100-est Film making

Big Feast - Appetite 3 27 (69

participations)

Local storyteller, Peter Chand, told stories to engage target

audiences at Thomas Boughey in Shelton, a deprived area of

Stoke-on-Trent

5 7 (29

participations)

Wavemaker led a series of site dressing workshops for The

Big Feast with Burslem Jubilee

1 13 Far From The Norm led a dance workshop at the Discover

Dance Festival

City Festival Leicester 6 workshops 193 Craft workshops inspired by Highly Sprung's Urban Astronaut

in libraries for children and their families

Diwali Leicester 3 workshops - Diwali 222 Rangoli School Workshops in 3 primary schools

2 workshops – Diwali 287 Rangoli Family Workshops

DNweekeND 6 sessions 40 The sessions aimed to breakdown the group’s understanding

of audience engagement, understand the makeup of each of

their individual communities and then look at targeted

approaches to programming and reaching a broader

audience.

Freedom Festival 4 x Shopping Centre activity days (Northpoint

& ASDA)

1,178 of which 266

signed up to

newsletter

Feast themed activity encouraging families to ‘grow your

own’. Children encouraged to sow seeds, prepare home

grown food and participate in creative activities aligned to

the festival feast


6 x Spoken word workshops 17 Spoken word workshops facilitated by professionals to

support new writers/performers in their development

8 x School engagement workshops 240 Introducing children to the festival and encouraging the

exploration of Freedom. Children were encouraged to

design posters for the festival and the Feast which were

turned into permanent artworks and placed on digital cabs

around the city

Preston City Council Events Preston x 1 40 Taster Tour performances from Plunge Boom – Vegetable

Nannies and Artizani – BEES!

Burnley x 1 50 Taster Tour performances from Plunge Boom – Vegetable


Blackpool x 1 110 Taster Tour performances from Plunge Boom – Vegetable


Derby Feste 10 81 Community Hub Workshops - 5 different Community Hubs to

learn the Garba dance

10 151 Primary School Workshops in

5 schools to learn the Garba dance


Analysis of audience development activities 2017

The following provides highlights of the approaches to the successful delivery of audience development for the ATN partners. It is not

comprehensive and focuses on those examples which represent a step-change for the festivals’ activity. A fuller listing follows festival by

festival (with more detailed information included in the festivals’ individual reporting and their own evaluation) which illustrate the real

sense of purpose with which partners are delivering their audience development activities. This analysis should be approached in tandem

with previous years’ reporting to understand the trajectory of individual partners organisations.

The evaluation of the 2017 work will culminate in a series of case studies and potentially some workshops to support the development of

the work of the WW ATN festivals and events.

Some of the themes of previously successful activity across the WW ATN continue to hold true, however in 2017 the real successes came

when festivals:

• Continued with their core audience development activities (albeit refined or developed).

• Kept a clear focus on their specific target audiences.

2017 also saw greater clarity of purpose in relation to outreach activities prior to the festivals. They are generally fulfilling one of the

following objectives:

• Making or doing activity which leads to display, a performance or presentation at the festival.

• Taster activity to whet the appetite and encourage festival attendance.

• Workshop activity to introduce participants to the themes or programme of the festival.

• Workshop activity suited to a particular target market to give them a cultural experience.

Some of these naturally lead to a visit to the festival (particularly if there is a vested interest in performing or seeing their work), although

there is inevitably a drop-off in numbers. However, there is still the challenge in some of this work connecting this activity to a visit to the


festival. There are, however, indications that if the activity is repeated year on year the festival can gain more traction with particular

communities or if there is an investment in staff or volunteers to accompany outreach activity who can talk more broadly about the festival

and learn more about the target communities.

City Festival, Leicester 2017

It is also clear that each festival or event and its associated locality has its own particularities which have implications for what kinds of

audience development activity would be most impactful. For some it is a process of trial and error to find the most appropriate activities or

approaches to engage their target audiences. However, as was learned from the first WW ATN 2013-2015, there are some things which

always hold true, the main one being:

• Dedicated staff are invaluable to deliver a successful engagement programme, particularly where core festival teams are small.

o Employing a dedicated project manager to ensure quality of delivery of audience engagement activity has been essential at

Freedom Festival.

o The Choir and Procession outreach programme leading up to the Brief Encounter was supported by Preston City Council’s

newly appointed Workshop Support Worker who facilitated the networking, support and administration of the different

outreach community groups plus other dedicated members of the team.


o Yorkshire’s model was to engage local artists who had a closer engagement with the localities where engagement activity was

delivered.

o In Leicester for City Festival and Diwali the audience development ‘delivery agents’ are partner organisations with their own

specialism – Spark and the Leicester Mela.

The 2016-2018 festivals are also perhaps taking a longer term more strategic approach to partnership working than the previous cohort:

• The importance of thinking long-term

o This was reported by Bell Square, “For Bell Square the support for a 3-year strategy to build new audiences from one of the

‘least engaged’ audience profile groups is incredibly valuable. It allows time to build reach and engagement over time, with

an iterative strategy that tests different approaches across several social media platforms. It allows the team to improve

approaches, respond positively to ‘what works’, and develop skills and confidence.” Notably, Bell Square has evolved its

social media approach in terms of working with professional bloggers and broadening its content strategy to increase

engagement, although the level of investment required is very high.

o Year on year work associated with Diwali in Leicester (delivered by Leicester Mela) has shown that by repeating activity, with

some improvements and refinements, the response to the arts events is building with a marked increase in engagement

between 2016 and 2017.

o DNweekeND invested in developing Community Associates to gain skills and understanding in order to support the

programming and audience development for 2018, with impacts of this work still to come.

o Derby Feste has invested in the partnership with Artcore who have helped create a series of community hubs in 2017, work

with which will be developed for 2018.

• Partnership is a key element of audience development, offering opportunities to extend the reach of the festival as well as providing

opportunities for legacy. Where partners are rooted in the community they bring knowledge and expertise beyond that of the


festivals and events. Most of the partnerships mentioned have also been entered into for the long term and are being invested in

year on year.

o To reach BAME audiences, Freedom Festival built on existing relationships with Humber All Nations Alliance, Open Doors

(Refugee/Migrant community centre) and Refugee Centre to encourage direct engagement, participation, volunteering and in

the case of artists the creation of work which reflects their own experiences.

o The Preston City Council team worked with Gateway Housing association to create and form a new arts group made up of

local young residents which will be supported in anticipation of the 2018 Lancashire Encounter.

o Derby Feste’s partnership with Artcore has developed over time and is providing a legacy for participants each year. The aim

in 2018 is to develop the festival geographically through the Hubs created for 2017 in partnership with Artcore.

o Derby Feste is also supporting a schools partnership START with a longer term plan to integrate that work into Feste in future

years.

o Leicester City Festival and Diwali work with Spark and Leicester Belgrave Mela to be able to draw on them as a resource

which is very knowledgeable and dedicated means the local authority teams running the festivals can reach far more

audiences then if we were working on our own.

The partners are taking proactive roles in relation to place-making and building pride of place and/or addressing issues of social cohesion.

Working in this way requires greater investment, specific skills and more creative approaches and solutions:

• Creating active participants in the festival

o Many of the festivals have undertaken participatory activity prior to the festival which has included creating something which

was then been integrated into the festival. In this way participants have a vested interest in engaging with a wider festival.

In 2017 Freedom Festival was particularly interested in creating these ‘active participants’ by presenting an extensive, multi

access point, participatory programme targeting key audiences – notably through the ‘Feastival’ project.


o Likewise in Preston City Council’s work active participation was encouraged for the Procession of Light through involvement

in making and then in the procession both at the Brief Encounter and then in Light Up Lancaster events.

o Derby Feste created a series of hubs around the city with different communities to support people to learn the Garba dance

which was then performed at the festival. You could also be pro-active and learn the dance using online content.

• Working with professional artists who represent local communities at the festivals.

o Freedom Festival is working on integration of artists and activity from target communities in the main festival to better

represent BAME audiences in the programme.

o Big Feast and Derby Feste included South Asian dance in its programme to engage those interested in this from BAME

communities.

o Derby Feste has continued to dedicate a stage for artists representative of the different local communities.

• Engaging with audiences on their terms.

o Leicester City Festival and Diwali have developed their approach to engage people where they are most comfortable ie. in

their home areas, and then to work with them to give them confidence to attend the festivals.

o SO Festival’s CakeFest was also able to work within community groups to make the work and then bring it to the wider

festival.

• Developing a dialogue with potential audiences to understand the barriers and address them directly.

o Freedom Festival’s work in shopping centres engages with residents who do not usually leave their community geography, so

some direct engagement was required to see if barriers can be broken down.

o Leicester City Festival’s outreach workshops continue to be a way of informing the community of the upcoming festival, as

well as engaging them directly in activity.

o Bell Square developed the quality and depth of its social media content and also had greater success targeting interested

audiences by working through ‘professional’ bloggers networks who attracted their followers (beyond the Bell Square’s own

followers).


• Tailoring programme to audience engagement needs.

o Preston City Council was looking for pieces of work which would work in different situations as they needed it to work for the

main festival as well as smaller taster events.

o Key Feste focused on engaging young people and developed a series of activities which responded to their interests and were

connected to the programme.

o Leicester City Festival is also considering how its programme suits the needs of families which are successfully engaged

through participative work, but with a stronger family programme may be enticed to the main festival in greater numbers.

Some elements of the delivery are now much more purposeful, and festivals are growing in confidence in their approaches and the most

effective ways of engaging as wide a range of audiences as possible:

• Using Social Media for targeting (not broadcast).

o Diwali in Leicester used the Belgrave Mela Facebook pages to set up events to directly target workshop participants and the

wider community giving them a direct call to action to get involved.

• Integrating ticketed elements.

o Preston City Council ticketed some of the Harris workshops to give an advanced idea of audience numbers. Families pre-

booked workshop tickets and had clearly pre-planned their itineraries for the evening to ensure nothing was missed.

• Creating open/drop-in opportunities as opposed to timed/limited activities:

o Depending on the level of engagement sought, drop-in activities widen reach although they can result in a lack of deeper

engagement.

o SO Festival discovered that drop-in activities were more successful in achieving participation by elders and young people.

o Leicester City Festival offered drop-in activities to achieve a wider reach, although felt depth of engagement was

compromised.


o The Big Feast HQ offered family activities throughout the festival as well as an opportunity to feed back and engage in Big

Feast Bingo.

2017 Audience Development Activity Summary

The following are summaries of audience development activity supported through the WW ATN programme and the main learning points

from it (it should be noted therefore that the following may not necessarily cover all the audience development activities delivered by

festivals). More detailed case studies are also being developed as well as potential opportunities for exchange between the festivals.

Bell Square

Without Walls companies made up four events across the Bell

Square annual calendar.

The audience development activity included:

Continued development of the social media profile for Bell

Square chiefly through:

• Advertising – facebook and twitter

• An intern recruited to create content

• Recruitment of volunteer bloggers

• A ‘blogger in residence’ and engagement of

professional bloggers using their platforms

The main learnings are around:


• The resource needed for supporting interns running the Bell Square social media platforms

• Challenges of attracting volunteer bloggers

• Being at the mercy of trends in use of social media platforms ie. slowdown of growth of Instagram

• Effective use of bloggers working through their own profiles (established London bloggers) has potentially wider reach than only

using Bell Square profiles

• Diversifying content has greater impacts ie. Blog from the Artistic Director offering a behind the scenes view

• Facebook Live continues to have impact

The main impacts were doubling followers in facebook and twitter, although not building at the same rate as in 2016, and more anecdotally

the viral impact and greater reach across non-Bell Square profiles using content created. Audiences continue to quote social media

platforms as a key source of information and motivation.

N.B: This work continues across the Bell Square season and at the point of writing the

season had not finished and therefore full analysis of impacts not yet assessed.

SO Festival

SO Festival continues to take in the surrounding market towns in East Lindsey before

ending for a weekend in Skegness. Activity included:

• Groups of young people curating and programming the family space at the festival and in advance, with the support of an artist,

creating dressing and games for the space.

• Recruitment of Young Ambassadors to the festival to support promotion in advance and information dissemination at the festival.

• Engagement work with elders through CakeFest – an edible map of Skegness.


• Improved disability access through Attitude is Everything audit.

Main impacts:

• Drop in activities whether with elders or young people are the most successful.

• SO Festival secured Bronze level of Attitude is Everything for the festival - improvements included recite me software for the

website, training for Ambassadors & stewards around accessibility, improved signage and information and training from AIE for staff.

Freedom Festival

The 2017 Freedom Festival took place within the Hull 2017 City of

Culture year.


• Partnering and engagement with a range of organisations

representing diverse communities to pass on information -

Humber All Nations Alliance (HANA), Multi Cultural Festival,

Refugee Week events, communities accessing Open Doors

services. Prolonged engagement between Open Doors

communities and Ragroof (over 9 months) which informed

the narrative for a performance which was delivered at the festival.

• Partnered with KCOM (media/comms company) on their ‘Hull Culture Cabs’ project to deliver a series of creative workshops in

schools themed around Freedom Festival and the ‘Feastival’. The project included designing posters to showcase the festival and

feast which were then turned into artwork and placed around the city.

• 2 Dance workshops delivered at Darley Youth Centre actively engaging young people and their families/carers with Freedom Festival.


• 6 spoken word workshops – delivered by professional spoken word artists to local people as part of our Word on The Street

programme. Targeting local people, particularly youth audiences, new to writing/performing, the workshops supported talent

development. These workshops allowed participants to develop their creative voice and live performance skills. Pre-festival

performances by participants (17 in total) delivered in: The Freedom Centre and Northpoint Shopping Centre

The main impacts were:

• All activities had specific target groups and were successful in engaging them. The BAME related activities were particularly

successful and have enabled Freedom Festival to begin to cultivate meaningful relationships with individuals and community leaders

which opened up a wealth of opportunities in the long term in terms of audience development and also artist development.

• The scale of engagement at the shopping centres was such that the festival feels that it was effective in changes in perceptions of

the festival and better understanding barriers to access.


Preston City Council events

Preston Egg Roll on left, Preston Street Theatre on right

This was an ‘off year’ for the main Lancashire Encounter festival, however, the momentum in anticipation of the 2018 event was

maintained through a series of events. These following eventsincluded Without Walls companies as part of a programme of outreach and

engagement activities from June to September:

• Egg Rolling at Easter 17th April

• Summer Saturdays Programme 10th June Streets Events

• Brief Encounter 23rd September (which did not include WW companies but did include engagement activities)

Audience development activity included:

• A Taster Tour in three locations including WW companies’ performances

o Artizani’s Bees! and Plunge Boom’s Vegetable Nannies performed for Preston Gateway, Burnley Youth Theatre and

Blackpool’s Mereside MAFIA.


• Participative activities leading to ‘performances’ at Brief Encounter (supported by the Taster Tour) and also Light Up Lancaster in

November 2017

o Trespass Light Projection/Choir – A partnership with Imitating the Dog to create a new large scale projection piece,

Trespass!, accompanied by a community choir. The work was developed by doing workshops in Skelmersdale in partnership

with Artz Centre and parallel workshops in Lancaster with a final presentation at Brief Encounter. In addition the outreach

work in Preston, Blackburn, Skelmersdale and Lancaster led to participation in the Trespass! Choir performance at Brief

Encounter.

o Luminous Landscapes was an illuminated puppet parade developed in partnership with Handmade Parade artists with people

from Preston, Burnley and Blackpool. This included workshops with Gateway Housing association on the Brookfield Estate

which led to the formation of a new arts group of local residents which will be supported for further inclusion into 2018

Lancashire Encounter.

• Participants were supported to attend with travel for Brief Encounter and Light Up Lancaster.

The main learnings were:

Employment of an outreach worker was essential for networking, support and administration of the different outreach community groups.

Although ideally they would have been employed for longer.

The project support worker has had a positive impact on the delivery of the outreach targets, providing a level of consistency and

additional capacity to the core team. The worker has ensured the smooth running and positive participatory experience during the

sessions resulting in a positive turn out at the festival by the participants.

Developing partnerships with handpicked cultural partners across the County was really successful in recruiting community groups,

providing local knowledge and much need brokerage which was then picked up by the project support worker.


The outreach activity was about building partnerships, networking and widening the reach across Lancashire over a 2 year period leading up

to the 2018 full Lancashire Encounter.

Tour de Yorkshire arts events

In its ‘off year’ the festival programmed arts events to accompany the Tour de Yorkshire 2017.


• Community workshops making large scale items and inclusive projects for the event, aiming to bring the whole community together.

o Scarborough - A large-scale community event engaging 200 people from the local area to make a giant (the size of an

articulated lorry) yellow jersey using waterproof materials. This was installed on the hillside during the festival weekend,

with the intention of it being televised and promoted during the Tour de Yorkshire.

o Tadcaster - A series of ‘decorate your bike’ workshop sessions, engaging local children aged 5-16 to bring their bikes and

decorate them to then take part in a parade during the festival.

o In addition to this, Tadcaster held workshops to develop large scale stencils to be used to create a landart piece reflective of

the town. Working specifically with children removed from main stream classes who helped in the design, execution and

delivery of this project. The children, their families and their peers were then encouraged to attend the events in the town

over race weekend to see their work.

o Harrogate - An artist in residence at Harrogate’s Royal Pump Room Museum worked with community groups currently actively

involved with Harrogate Museums on a creative project to make work inspired by the museum’s cycle collection and stories

from Harrogate’s cycling history. These stories were brought to life through shadow puppets and ultimately by creating a

short film which was screened in the museum and an installation of cycling shadow puppets in the museum foyer. The film

was screened in community venues and on race day on the big screens in the Cycling Festival site (Fan Zone) to celebrate the

Tour de Yorkshire coming to town.


The model of delivery was effective as each contractor was on the ground and liaised directly with the artists involved. The event in

Tadcaster hosting bike decorating workshops drew a particularly strong audience and translated in to an excellent addition to the festival

weekend with the children’s bike parade. Once commissioned the events ran themselves and were delivered wholly by the partners.

Key Feste, Peterborough

In 2017 Vivacity presented one event, Key Feste, held around the riverside area.

Audience development activity:

• Pre-festival event in town centre (although very

rainy) with flag making workshops and a performance

by Company Chameleon (the planned accompanying

workshop was rained off). This promotional effort

was supported by 6000 programmes sent out to all

Vivacity venues as well as handed out at the city

centre day. Poster boards were present in the city

centre 2 weeks before the festival and postcards

were sent to schools for school bags.

• Shed making - Urban Astronaut by Highly Sprung was selected as inspiration for the design of a shed. This was developed by young

people with an artist and included a spray painted large astronaut inside.

• Graffiti tent at Key Feste and pre-festival workshops involving stencils and a spraying board. In addition, a skateboard ramp enticed

young people to the festival alongside the Graffiti tent. Vivacity worked with partners such as a skateboard company to engage

suitable artists and invited the YMCA to spread the word to their young people.

• Workshops open to all audiences held during the festival with Highly Sprung.


Key Feste expects to move the location of the festival back to the city centre in 2018, after using the riverside location in more recent

years.

Being part of Without Walls ATN has made Vivacity who run Key Feste think much more about audiences and how they can develop work and

their programme to engage specific audiences. Great successes were achieved in 2017 with young people who benefitted from targeted

participative activity prior to and during the festival.

DNweekeND, Doncaster

DNweekeND continues to be an integral part of the work of the CPP located in Doncaster, Right Up Our Street. Activity included:

• Taster session during Delicious Doncaster Food

Festival with Wet Picnic

• Taster sessions in Market Place and outside CAST

with Motionhouse & NoFit State Circus

• Taster session in Balby with Gandini Juggling

• Training for developing Community Associates

team in the Town Centre in audience

development, focussed on building audiences, for Slow Down Sunday events as part of Delicious Doncaster festival and DNweekeND

(both RUOS events). The development of these Community Associates is designed to enable them to help make programming and

audience development decisions for DNweekeND 2018 and associated events. This work included attending GDIF and Hat Fair as well

as training workshops delivered by &Co.

• Distribution of targeted print with Polish and Slovak translations through existing Secondary Schools networks to reach Eastern

European families.


2017 was an opportunity to better understand the audience data collected and try to test out different engagement processes and therefore

be better prepared as a team (including the community teams) to programme and reach new audiences in 2018.

Derby Feste

Derby Feste focused on a large scale participatory activity for 2017 – the Garba dance. This activity involved:

• A participation model which comprised of five Community Hubs and five Primary Schools in low engagement areas. Five local dance

artists worked with Vadodara-based Choreographer Parul Shah on the Garba steps and then this was taught / disseminated over a

series of workshops to the Community Hubs & Schools delivered in partnership with Artcore.

http://www.artcoreuk.com/derby-feste-garba/

o Community Hubs: Déda, Indian Community Centre, Bosnian Community Centre, Age UK and West Indian Community Centre

o Schools: Arboretum Primary, Becket Primary, Village Primary, Ashgate Primary and Bemrose Primary

• An online workshop was also made available for anyone who wanted to learn the steps in advance of the event, this can be viewed

here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0HH6Kag4Yo

• The Garba performances were the finale to the day of free events on the

Saturday.

• Derby Feste also had a large scale paid event on the Friday evening, ‘World of

Circus’ at the Bass Recreation Ground which included a skate competition.

Particular successes were:

• The skate competition was fully integrated into the event, being well attended

in its own right but also attracted a wider audience as well as participants enjoying the rest of the festival.

http://www.artcoreuk.com/derby-feste-garba/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0HH6Kag4Yo


• The aim is to develop the relationship with Artcore with a view to parts of Feste being delivered in the Community Hubs established

this year, in 2018.

• The School programme carries on as part of a larger project called START which creates cultural opportunities for schools in low

engagement areas. The START Programme will run through to 2019 with plans for them to engage with Feste in 2018 and 2019.

• This year has seen Feste secured as part of Deda’s ACE NPO, Derby City Council committing to funding through to 2022 and hit the

Box Office Target for the ‘World of Circus’.


Leicester City Festival and Diwali

Leicester again involved Without Walls artists in two separate events – the City Festival and an arts programme for Diwali.

City Festival on the left Diwali on the right

For Leicester City Festival the activity involved:

• 6 craft workshops in libraries which explored themes inspired by Highly Sprung’s Urban Astronaut. The workshops were also an

opportunity to promote the City Festival and pass on information. The libraries continued the themes of the workshops and

connections to the festival through marketing and displays.

• Participants were incentivised to attend the event through an invitation to come to the Festival and receive a goody bag. Further

workshop sessions were held on the festival site.

The Diwali arts programme activity involved:

• Diwali in Belgrave flyer distributed through local schools, libraries and neighbourhood services


• Rangoli workshops in primary schools

• Rangoli workshops in half term for families accompanied by opportunities to find out more about the festival

• Families performance of Sufi:Zen by Akademi during the Diwali celebrations

The main successes were:

The Outdoor arts elements ‘City Streets’ of the City Festival were further developed, exposing more people to the arts in open spaces and

open settings. For Diwali it was clear that participants and audiences had a much broader knowledge of the festival and its arts programme

than they had in 2017.

The workshops in community venues enabled reaching audiences in parts of the city who would not normally engage in events in either the

city centre (City Festival) or Belgrave road (Diwali). By taking activities to areas where the public are comfortable in their communities it

allows them to engage with activities in a familiar setting, which gives them the confidence and interest to attend the event itself.

Big Feast, Appetite

Big Feast continues to develop its programme and work in

the context of the CPP programme Appetite, Stoke.

Activity included:

• Site dressing - 5 site dressing workshops with BME

groups who also attended the festival.

• Children’s storytelling workshop with mostly BME

families, although none collected a goody bag from

the festival.


• Taster Tour in 3 areas leading up to the festival from July to August 2017. This included dance workshops by Far From the Norm at

the Discover Dance Festival in the city centre and two Taster Tours at Trentham Gardens and World of Wedgwood. The Taster Tour

was accompanied by workshops delivered by artists. Incentives were offered to attend the festival in terms of cards provided which

could be exchanged for a goody bag at the festival.

• Engaged with a local Sikh temple where marketing was distributed for The Big Feast during a Sikh Festival.

• Programmed South Asian Dance as part of the festival to encourage BAME audiences to attend.

• A paid Ambassador handed out brochures and cards (to bring to the Big Feast to collect goody bags) to workplaces including Stoke-

on-Trent City Council, Wilkinsons, intu Potteries Shopping Centre and many more.

• Big Feast HQ, which was an empty shop in the City Centre,hosted family activities and was the location for collecting Kids Packs.

• Promoted activity through the Chamber of Commerce and their newsletter, sent out marketing via the City Centre Partnership and

held a Big Feast Welcome Brunch inviting local businesses and stakeholders.

• Worked with Carl Wilson, a disability Ambassador for Appetite, producing 4 short promotional films where Carl interviewed 4 acts on

the Taster Tour. 3 of these interviews were posted on social media to promote the activity.

The site dressing was successful and will be built on for 2018. The development from an activity tent to a Big Feast HQ was also successful.

It provided a space for families to come and collect their Kids’ Packs, carry out workshops with Wavemaker, engage with the HQ team and

take some time out from the festival. These ideas have been inspired by going to SIRF through the ATN network and seeing how they use a

shop as a space for information and support.

Appetite has also been cited as a major reason for Stoke-on-Trent going for UK City of Culture 2021. The quality of the shows and the links

to Without Walls have been a major part in this.

Conclusions


Going into the final year of this project, it is an opportunity for partner organisations to consolidate their audience development activities

and ensure that each is able to sustain or develop the successful elements for the longer term (beyond the contribution of the funding as

part of WW ATN). This may involve one or more of the following for each festival:

• Tighten up their evidence base to be able to clearly make the case for alternative sources of income or to be able to attract and

retain key partners in their locality.

• Consider how to build on existing activity to make a further significant impact with target audiences.

• Instigate a more strategic approach of action research which can be sustained over time (or continuous R&D) focusing on target

audiences systematically offering clear routes to engagement.

Some of the greatest impacts to date have been where target audiences have been given ownership and/or be involved as co-producers.

Success has also come over time when the festivals have considered the routes between participation and attendance and the benefits and

incentives to be involved in both. However, it is still a significant challenge to support target groups on this journey and many festivals

have tried a range of approaches.

Many of the festivals also report how the make-up of their local populations is or has been changing – whether in relation to age and

ethnicity or migration into the area. This means that the WW ATN partners need to be highly adaptable and flexible if they are to fulfil

their missions in engaging local audiences and have strategies which can continually engage and involve new and changing communities.

These approaches may have to be highly creative, and, to a certain extent, risk taking to have the desired impacts.

A changing environment and the ambitions of the partner organisations to have greater impacts locally, also mean that the partners should

be ensuring that they are able to put in place well-resourced evaluation work as a legacy of programme.


Evaluation

The feedback from the festivals indicates where evaluation can be more challenging, particularly as partners are looking to tell a more

nuanced or in-depth story about their work. Effectively, while a range of evaluation is undertaken in many cases, it is clear that

quantitative data alone is not telling the whole story of the impacts of the festivals and events.

Nevertheless, the quantitative data is essential for understanding audiences in the context of local, regional and national population and for

tracking trends over time. This data has also been instrumental in enabling festivals and events to identify and understand audiences,

advocate for their work and report appropriately. Quantitative data has therefore been the focus of the main reporting for Without Walls

ATN (although many festivals themselves have conducted a wider range of evaluation).

However, some festivals are now looking for more support with their overall approach to evaluation and to develop skills in this area with

their own teams and contracted support workers.

While others are looking for more ideas or support on specific aspects:

• Where face to face data collection is particularly challenging ie. when there is effectively no time at one off events as audiences

disperse quickly at the end, at events which take place in ‘private’ locations where data collection is not permitted and also at

largely participative events such as processions (potentially taking place later in the evening ie. it is dark).

• Better support for fieldworkers collecting quantitative and/or qualitative data to make the process friendlier.

• Getting feedback from Under 16s.

• Techniques for embedding evaluation in activity, particularly participative activity.

• More creative approaches to gathering data which have integrity.

Since the Without Walls ATN first started in 2013, there are also a wider range of tools available to support evaluation which are worthy of

consideration including the use of tablet based data collection outdoors and other digital tools including use of wifi beacons or hotspots for

tracking and profiling visitors.


These areas can be addressed through:

• Training and/or more detailed guidance for delivery of evaluation.

• Increased levels of investment in evaluation where appropriate – budget and/or people, by partners.

• Discussion of creative approaches and what evaluation objectives they might address.

• And finally testing out use of digital tools for data collection.

Areas for development or support through WW ATN

The following are areas suggested by the festivals for consideration at forthcoming project workshops in Spring 2018 in anticipation of 2018

events:

• Sharing more case studies and examples of good practice in audience development amongst the festivals and events.

• Help and ideas for devising audience development strategies and programmes for specific target groups.

• More analysis of the evaluation findings and their implications in relation to objectives set and overall ambitions. Including

interrogation of areas such as the relationship between participation and awareness of and attendance at the festivals or events.


Appendix

Response to the work

Comments from audiences (in italics) and a range of the partners’ evaluations from observation of their audiences and their responses.

Festivals

Akademi, Sufi Zen 2016 This was a mixed audience, many came across by chance walking through the park, they were very positive about the

show

Akademi, Sufi Zen 2017 The audience definitely engaged well with the performance and there was a good crowd throughout the performance.

Artizani, Bees! 2016 enjoyed the range of hives in this piece- from the intriguing to the surprising!

Most enjoyed but there were some who did not ‘get it’

The playfulness and fun element of the show was something that certainly came through and really animated the city

centre.

Artizani, Bees! 2017 Incredibly well received by our Brief Encounter Procession outreach community groups and locals who completely and

positively engaged with the show and performers. The imaginative performers totally adapted to our small audience

numbers which ensured maximum audience participation and enjoyment.

"I loved the bee disco" Shannon (aged 10) Sion Centre, Preston

"The beehives and the Veg Nannies - bonkers but brilliant." Paul (parent), Sion Centre, Preston".

"They were so good . . . really funny" Mollie (15), Burnley Youth Theatre, (talking about the beehives and the Veg

Nannies)

"Dancing bees . . . yay!" Lily (14), Burnley Youth Theatre

"Absolutely brilliant" Cath, Mereside M.A.F.I.A, Blackpool

"Have you seen them? They're hysterical." Hannah, Mereside M.A.F.I.A, Blackpool.


Candoco, You and I Know 2016 The audience really loved this show. There were several disabled young people who were hugely inspired by the

performers. Many of the audience were in tears during/after the show, as they were so moved.

Candoco, You and I Know 2017 Audiences were highly engaged and very much enjoyed the show. People were very much with the dancers and once

they understood the performers disability relaxed.

Circus Geeks x Pangottic, Project_Vee

2017 Engaged especially families

Company Chameleon, Of Man and Beast

2016

Having observed them, most stayed to watch the full performance due to its intensity and the tempo of the show which

was fast.

Observed during the performances that teenagers (male & female) from a diverse range of backgrounds were very

engaged. In addition, there were a lot of adult men (probably in their 30s/40s) who were completely engrossed in the

show.

The show went down very well but there are challenging points where very young children can be scared.

It was incredible and amazing performance

I think audience members were slightly confused by the start of the performance, but as they get in to the routine and

the aerial elements come in to play it is received a lot better.

Company Chameleon, Of Man and Beast

2017

Existing Freedom Festival audiences have shown a strong appetite for high quality dance and Company Chameleon did

not disappoint. It was well received by a diverse audience base in terms of age and demographic. Presented in the

open air Audiences remained seated and captivated throughout and showed their appreciation for the performance

throughout.

Far from the Norm, H. O. H. 2017 There was a positive audience reaction. There was a greater proportion of the audience in teens/20s than usual.

Feedback on cards was equally positive from older people, though. Very young children (ie under 5s) really loved it.

Very engaged, came back more than once to watch


Great engagement, it was very confrontational but people really got into it. It was a quiet day and the artists were

great at bringing in passers-by and people who weren’t there for the work.

Gandini Juggling, 8 Songs 2016 Some returned to watch it 2-3 times

This show definitely needs something before it to ‘warm up’ audiences. However, once they were drawn in they were

captivated by the skills and virtuosity.

Gandini Juggling, 8 Songs 2017 Our Audiences found this 8 piece singing and juggling performance spellbinding and very entertaining. However as this

was a family festival some audience members found the inventiveness and performance a little unsettling, having said

this the feedback was very positive.

“This year's performers were great, my lads loved the sound people, mad science, puppet shows on the horse cart and

the weird 8 song juggling dance act”

There was an element within the performance that jarred slightly with our young family audience, and was a little too

adult. It was only a small element of the performance and not integral to it, comments and feedback from the

audience stated that this could have been left out.

Gobbledegood Theatre, Ear Trumpet 2016 This appealed to young and old and proved to be a huge success for families seeking a shared experience. Fun, friendly

and engaging it had all of the elements needed to encourage participation

Gobbledegood Theatre, Ear Trumpet 2017 Thoroughly enthralling with complete audience engagement from being to end.

“The Ear Trumpet thing, if a little weird, was excellent. The kids absolutely loved it and were fascinated by it and

genuinely believed they were hearing things from underground. (They’ve been asking questions ever since!!!)”

“The people running the trumpets were excellent and stayed in character throughout even when speaking to my

husband and I as we were leaving, excellent, and something I’ve never seen before.”

Highly Sprung, Urban Astronaut 2017 The Urban Astronaut performance was really amazing & good "More Please" particularly stuff that people can't help

but see.

very though provoking this is the best piece of street theatre Preston has ever seen

Its great that Preston is getting things like this

Very positive – people of all ages really enjoyed it. Children loved the astronaut (especially boys) and adults seemed

really affected by the environmental theme/message of the show.


Very [innovative], both structures are eye catching and there are two areas for the audience to watch, the moving

performance aspect of the performance Very engaged, all ages, something quite new to the Festival e makes it more of

a spectacle.

At capacity every time, a very popular piece. Occasionally a bit of an issue with split audiences with the dual

performances, and the first half of the female artist’s story being a little underwhelming.

This show was very well received and maintained the audience throughout. We had numerous people who came to see

the show multiple times across the two days, lots of people would stay to talk to the performers about the show

afterwards.

Joli Vyann, Lance Moi En L’Air 2017 The craftsmanship, physicality and narrative of the work seemed to captivate audiences which included large numbers

of families. There was a wonderful silence that permeated the performance space which reflected the tone of the

piece and perhaps served to evidence that the audiences where connecting to the work. Audiences remained seated

throughout the performance and evidenced their appreciation post performance with applause.

Very positive – feedback cards were all good. During the show, the audience were completely engaged – and absolutely

silent throughout. Many audience members talked to the company afterwards. Audience had good age mix – all

seemed to enjoy it.

Very positive responses for such a delicate piece of work, thought it might test people’s patience, but it kept

audiences well.

Joli were enchanting. Just amazing

Kuljit Bhamra, Chutney 2016 Younger members especially joined in the audience engagement element of the show at the end. Some audience

members who didn’t speak English did not get the full effect of the narration.

Event was so good, got plunged into the magical world of fairy tales, very good music & good singers.

Kuljit Bhamra, Chutney 2017 Really engaged and given that it was raining people stayed with the show all the way through

Miss High Leg Kick, Audition Project 2017 The show was particularly good at catering for all ages and abilities, audiences responded extremely enthusiastically.

The show was particularly suited to Skegness!

New Art Club, Campervan of Love 2017 Very well received, families loved it, even small children were laughing. They engaged with the audience very well


Periplum, 451 2017 Hull audiences are familiar with Periplum’s work having previously seen The Bell and, through Hull 2017, a new

commission called The 7 Alleys. This familiarity, trust in the quality of the work and audience experience meant that

free tickets for the event went very quickly and turnout on the day by ticket holders was higher than average (based

upon Hull 2017 attrition rate) with 82% of ticket holders converting into real audiences. Demand from none ticket

holders on the night of the performance meant that we were able to swiftly fill the remaining spaces resulting in a

capacity audience of 2300. The audience, now familiar with this style of work, was very engaged and responded well to

the performance. Social media activity spiked during the performance with comments being overwhelmingly positive

with many audience members evidencing a growing loyalty to Periplum having seen their work in Hull over the last few

years.

Facebook comment: Go! Go! If you havent seen it, you MUST go...its fantastic entertainment, and as politically

relevant today as it was the day it was written...or maybe more. Get a ticket...buy, beg or borrow...you will be

thrilled and mesmerised!

Local media coverage featuring Periplum was significant with the Hull Daily Mail and local radio stations featuring 451.

Venue managers reported a diverse audience base in line with the wider festival programme.

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/hulls-freedom-festival-2017-what-112213

Plunge Boom, Vegetable Nannies 2016 Always a big hit, particularly with family audiences. It offers high quality interaction and entertainment.

Plunge Boom workshop was a huge success for the very young and their families who seemed just as keen to build their

own vegetable baby as the children did. Through the city children and adults were seen walking around holding their

very own vegetable babe and on occasion you could hear people asking ‘where can we get one?’. Fun for all the family

and a great addition to the festival..

Plunge Boom, Vegetable Nannies 2017 Creative, captivating and completely audience engaging.

Our audiences completely engaged with this interactive performance by befriending and feeding the earthen toddlers.

The performers completely adapted their performance to interact with our small audiences.

"The beehives and the Veg Nannies - bonkers but brilliant." Paul (parent), Sion Centre, Preston".

"Kids and parents had so much fun with the lantern making, beehives and vegetables in a pram" Teresa (adult), Sion

Centre, Preston.


"They were so good . . . really funny" Mollie (15), Burnley Youth Theatre, (talking about the beehives and the Veg

Nannies)

"I can't get over the way even the boys loved it. I never thought I'd see one of the lads cuddling a cauli with eyes - and

giving it a bottle" Sam (Parent) Mereside M.A. F.I A, Blackpool

Wet Picnic, The Lift 2016 This was an excellent old school street show which was very accessible to audiences.

Wet Picnic, The Lift 2017 The show was in INTU Shopping Centre and worked very well with passing shoppers

Contacts

London Office

2nd Floor, Rich Mix

35-47 Bethnal Green Road

London E1 6LA

T 020 7407 4625

Manchester Office

Green Fish Resource Centre

46–50 Oldham Street

Northern Quarter

Manchester M4 1LE

T 0161 234 2955

[email protected]

www.theaudienceagency.org

Registered in England & Wales 8117915

Registered Charity No. 1149979

Without Walls Associate Touring Network Audience ... · Diwali Leicester 3 workshops - Diwali 222...

Documents

Transcript of Without Walls Associate Touring Network Audience ... · Diwali Leicester 3 workshops - Diwali 222...