Holmfirth Arts Festival 2020
Sadly due to the pandemic we were unable to deliver a parade for Holmfirth Arts Festival this year as planned. The parade, supported by Woven In Kirklees, had aimed to focus on the Earth, exploring and celebrating nature aswell as the role of humans in protecting it. Working with Liz Walker from Invisble Thread Theatre we had planned to create a visual treat of mossy, earthy creatures breaking our of the earth with life sized articulated earth guardian puppets walking amongst the participants.
Instead we delivered an online participatory project creating earth guardian puppets and exploring a range of textiles processes to make their bodies look earthy. Particpants collected packs created by our artists, Liz Walker, Isobel Denton, Jessica Grady, Jessica McMillan, Dionne Swift, Elinor Voytal, Julia Roebuck and Melissa Fletcher, so that they could get creative at home through our Zoom sessions. A puppet surgery was held so that partipants could get help with any awkward bits before the puppets had their photo by the Arts festivals official photographer taken in situ in Holmfirth!
Holmfirth Arts Festival 2018
With the theme of Flight we had a fantastic few weeks working in the Market Hall , Holmfirth delivering our own sessions and helping out at the public workshops. Our younger children created fantastic bee aeroplanes, and our 11+ yr olds created their own individual fantastical flying machines.
Holmfirth Arts Festival 2016
In 2016 we worked with Hand Made Parade to create the bird section of the Festivals Creature Carnival
Holmfirth Arts Festival 2015
In 2015 our ‘Wanted’ project saw 200 local children imagining local folklore characters, Jenny Greenteeth and the Holmfirth boggardt
Artist Chloe Williams, musician Charlotte Watson and poet Victoria Garbutt have worked with 5 local schools and children at The Children’s Art School to create 200 puppet heads and to write and record chants and rhythms to create an installation in Homfirth’s old prison – the’Owd Towser.
The children were introduced to Jenny Greenteeth through a poem written by Victoria Garbutt, and to the Holmfirth Boggard through the film by Philip Lofas, created for the first Holmfirth Film Festival.
The children imagined and created puppets using screwed up newspaper and masking tape. Inspired by Charlottes beautiful cello soundscapes and Victorias poetry the children explored words and rhythms to describe their puppets. Chants and rhythms were recorded to be used as part of the final installation.
[2015 IMAGES TO GO HERE]