Wordpool’s Schools Project for the 2016 Big Friendly Family Day featured the Save Our Stories RescueShip and a tale of seafaring story stealers. Over 3000 children from 11 Blackpool Primary Schools took part in assemblies and workshops with storytellers Dan Worsley, Louise Fazackerley and artist Vanessa Card. The stories and Giant Pirate heads they created were shown at Wordpool’s Big Friendly Family Day on Sat July 2nd in Blackpool’s Stanley Park. The event attracted over 2500 adults and children, who took part in a story telling trail around the park featuring twenty one activities including Giant Walking Trees, a show inside a Giant Pig, Baby T Rex, the musical bubble breathing Dragon, a Pop up Boathouse Picture Show, themed storytelling and craft activities.
TIMEHOP: WORDPOOL’S 1st YOUNG ADULT FICTION FESTIVAL took place on Thursday July 7th, 2016 at The Grand Theatre, Church Street, Blackpool. 200 young people from Unity and South Shore Academy enjoyed a Festival programme, which featured six well known authors of Young Adult Fiction including Carnegie Medal Winner Sally Gardner, Emma Carroll, John Walter, Paul Dowswell, Prentice and Weil, Lucy Saxon, and poet Craig Bradley. The schools took part in breakout sessions and workshops during the festival with all the authors and enjoyed a ‘round up of the day’ panel discussion for everyone concluded the festival day.
An extended offer enabled 45 students from the two schools to take part in a TIMEHOP Bronze Arts Award Project. They each produced an individual portfolio of work that will be external moderated by Trinity College London and undertook 2 days working in school with a Dance Artist/Professional Writer/ Digital Artist to explore a specific text (chosen from the YAF Festival authors) through each art form. The short film and dance performance outcomes were shared at the TimeHop Festival.
Wordpool’s next event will be a Festival of Performance and Poetry which will take place in early October and feature performances and workshops and a poetry trail throughout the town centre of new written work commissioned on the National Poetry Day theme of ‘Messages’.
Wordpool is funded through an Arts Lottery Award through Arts Council England and managed by Blackpool’s Arts and Library Services.
To keep up to date with Wordpool’s plans and to view some of the work produced by schools for Wordpool’s Big Friendly Family Day and TimeHop visit our website www.wordpoolfestival.co.uk or follow the Facebook page.
Blackpool Cultural Education Hub 