ARTS - Nov 06 archive
Bill Morris, the London Organising Committee’s newly appointed Director of Culture, Ceremonies and Education recently visited Canterbury, to meet with partners from across the South East and share ambitions and thoughts on the possible shapes of a UK Cultural Olympiad, which will run from 2008 until 2012.
He outlined that activities within the Cultural Olympiad should look to adopt at least one of the following values:
Celebrate the local area and community diversity
Inspire and involve young people
Synergy between sport and culture
Evolve audiences into participation
Humanise public spaces eg street theatre, public art, large screens
Use arts and sport to raise the issue of environmental sustainability
Honour and share the values of both the Olympic and Paralympic movements
Positive legacy – e.g. in sport, urban regeneration, tourism, audiences, social cohesion
Collaborations and innovation (between communities, cultural sector and media)
Access to and from parallel education and learning programmes
The Arts sectoral task group wholeheartedly supports these principles and is examining the Kent strategy (currently out for consultation – see latest news) to ensure that it encourages and enables these values. The task group would encourage all local partners interested in being part of the Cultural Olympiad to consider how you can best work in some of the identified values above into what you wish to achieve.
THE BIG DAY OUT
On March 31st 2007, Kent Tourism Alliance is launching its first Big Day Out.
The Big Day Out is a fantastic opportunity to promote Kent’s arts venues and events to local residents and encourage pride in the county where we live.
The idea for Big Day Out came from the knowledge that 25% of people staying in Kent are visiting friends and family, so it is important that the local residents know more about where they live and what there is to do. What any cultural venue or event will get from participating in Big Day Out is raised awareness of your event or your venue, PR coverage, and local goodwill and support that will then be translated into word of mouth recommendation and new and repeat visits.
The idea, then, is to give Kent residents free entrance to a range of attractions and events in the county for one day on 31st March 2007, becoming an annual event for five years leading up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. This is not just another free promotion, tickets can only be applied for in advance and venues and events can limit the numbers of tickets available. The more tickets you offer and the sooner you get involved the more publicity you will get. The Kent Tourism Alliance is looking to make 10,000 tickets available overall to really make an impact, and these are already disappearing fast.
Even if you are not usually open on that day or your particular event does not run at that time of year, there are ways for you to still get involved. Maybe you will consider a special open day just for this event or maybe you would like to offer tickets for another time of year. Working together, Kent’s tourism and arts industries want everyone in Kent to be able to take part and benefit.
If you would like to get involved simply click here and complete the form (word document)