Over 45 events borough-wide from May 11-27th
The festival, which runs from May 11th to 27th, offers something for everyone, including spoken word performances, theatre, visual arts, dance and exhibitions by visiting and local artists.
There will be ample opportunity for everyone to get involved and try something new - plus the chance to see inside venues such as Tooting Market, Southside Shopping Centre, Testbed in Battersea and the Alton Estate in Roehampton amongst others.
The festival's final event - The Shimmy - is an afternoon of eclectic outdoor arts activities along the riverfront in Putney on May 27th.
Supported by funding from Arts Council England and sponsored by Southside Shopping Centre and St. James, the festival invites artists in the borough to work with local groups and support local organisations to create new work.
An advisory group of local organisations and artists has worked with the council's arts team to help develop the programme.
The line-up features BoSI - Bio-Organism Substrate Industries - who are on a mission to discover the 'Sweet Smell of Success'. Their touring lab will take up residence at Southside - researching success in Wandsworth.
Visitors can add their stories to a national map of success and can create their own online profile as part of the project on Saturday May 12th or 19th. Then, on Saturday May 26th, passersby can have their own unique 'sweet smell' harvested and bottled by scientists using state-of-the-art, custom made technologies in a special Aroma Laboratory.
The free event runs from 11am to 6pm on each of the three Saturdays of the festival.
Tooting Market will have opportunities to meet Action Space artists in residency on Fridays from 11am to 4pm, along with a grand festival showcase on Saturday 26. This is in addition to Brick Box's popular market offer - Pick and Mix. Festival fun, delicious food, fresh coffee and home baked cakes alongside free art workshops for children are on offer every Saturday from 9am to 5pm.
Chocolate Films will host an extraordinary evening of horror films on Saturday 12th from 6pm to 8pm at the market while Nutshell dance company perform 'In Transit' at 11am and 12noon on Sunday 13th. Finally, Step into Dance invites everyone to get dancing on Sunday 20th from 3pm to 5pm, with showcases, workshops and performances. All the events at Tooting Market are free.
In Roehampton, Emergency Exit Arts, The Street Arts Academy and Spare Tyre will be putting on a series of events, including one which invites visitors to test their horse whispering skills.
Emergency Exit Arts - with BOOMhead junk percussion crew, Wandsworth Young Carers and Young Refugees Projects -stage an interactive street performance session as part of the festival.
These free events take place on the Alton Estate from 1.30pm to 4pm on May 9th.
The festival brochure with the complete programme listing, including detailed times and venue information, will be available on the council's website - www.wandsworth.gov.uk - as well as in libraries and other local venues, next month.For more information contact the arts team on 020 8871 8711 or email arts@wandsworth.gov.uk.
March 9, 2012