Arts Council England providing backing for this year’s event
The Wandsworth Arts Festival promises to be better than ever when it returns this year thanks to a £40,000 funding boost.
Arts Council England is providing the funding while Wandsworth’s very own Southside Shopping Centre has agreed to be the main sponsor for the event’s third year.
The festival will run from May 3 to May 19, with an official launch taking place on the opening day.
This year’s artistic celebration will feature more than 40 events – and once again culminate with a huge outdoor event called the Shimmy.
The Shimmy – a unique and free day-long event – invites people to walk along the riverside between Putney Wharf and Wandsworth Park taking in performances, installations, spoken word recitals and sculptures along the route.
New to this year’s line up is the Festival Fringe. Under the guidance of a voluntary festival steering committee, the Fringe will include a host of community-based events and act as a testing ground for new work.
More details of what will be on offer during the festival can be found online at www.wandsworth.gov.uk/artsfestival . And once the festival begins people can find out all about it in person by visiting the Festival Hub, Wandle Triangle, in Wandsworth High Street – opposite Southside Shopping Centre.
Wandsworth’s culture spokesman, Councillor Jonathan Cook, said: “For the past two years, the arts festival has given residents and visitors from all over London the chance to discover the enormous wealth of culture and creativity Wandsworth has to offer. And, boosted by Arts Council England’s generous £40,000 funding, we’re hoping that 2013’s offerings will be even better than before.”
Neil Churchill, general manager of Southside Shopping Centre, said: "The Wandsworth Arts Festival is particularly exciting this year as the Festival Hub is claiming back a rundown public area by the River Wandle and making it a more accessible space for the community. Southside continues to sponsor the festival, because of the innovation and creativity it delivers to the community."
Anyone interested in learning about festival updates and checking on newly added events will be able to log on to www.wandsworthartsfestival.com when it goes live in April, 2013.
For more information about the arts team or to join its mailing list email arts@wandsworth.gov.uk, call (020) 8871 8711 or write to Arts Team, Staff Yard, Battersea Park, London, SW11 4NJ. Alternatively, you can follow the team on Facebook or Twitter - www.facebook.com/WandsworthArtsTeam and @wandsworth_arts.
March 7, 2013