Bradfield gets creative
College launches new summer festival
In anticipation of the general release of tickets for the inaugural Bradfield Festival, which will run from June 21 to 25, the Bradfield College Greek Theatre recently received a special visit.
Mike Christie, pictured left, a founding member of headline act G4, took in the sights of the newly-restored venue at the heart of the festival before revealing why the group decided to perform on the last night.
He said: “It’s the uniqueness of the venue. It’s quite amazing and we haven’t performed in a setting like this before.” This summer, culture, creativity and community come together in an arts festival in Bradfield, delivering a week of comedy, classical music, pop music, opera, theatre, visual arts, dance and much more.
Alongside G4, the festival – a BBC Arts Get Creative event – will bring an eclectic mix of big name acts including the Reduced Shakespeare Company, Chamber Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, workshops with members of the cast of, The National Youth Jazz Orchestra and more.
Festival director Tim Coker said: “The idea is to do something in the summer which involves the community, and brings internationally acclaimed acts to Bradfield.”
Dame Judi Dench has given the festival her backing, saying: “The way to get young people involved and interested in the theatre and the arts is to provide exciting works for them to see.”
Bradfield Festival is a public arts festival built around a programme of educational enrichment, delivering more than 50 creative workshops for children running throughout the week – from learning to dance flamenco to live sports commentary; from creative writing to sculpture; from fashion to stained glass window making.
All workshops are completely free of charge, not only to every Bradfield pupil, but also to children from schools all over West Berkshire – workshops which are, in part, funded by ticket sales from our public shows.
The headline acts will perform in Bradfield College’s 125-year-old Greek Theatre, which has a capacity of 1,000.
Many of the visiting artists will be there throughout the festival, working with pupils and performing alongside them in public evening shows.
