Firestation Centre for Arts and Culture have created The Games Walk, an interactive public art trail on the banks of the river thames from Eton to Dorney
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
The Games Walk Performance Festival is looking for Performers and Musicians
28th July till the 11th August
Do you want to show the world what you can do?
If you can perform to an international audience - Firestation Arts & Culture wants you!
Performers, bands, singers, musicians, theatre companies, circus performers, steel bands, ballet, break or even belly dancers! ANY performers either professional OR aspiring, if you can perform outside to a packed awaiting audience then The Games Walk Performance Festival is the PERFECT place to show off.
The Firestation Centre for Arts and Culture has created The Games Walk Performance Festival. This 15 day festival will include both Windsor Racecourse which is part of the Olympic site in Dorney and The Firestation Centre for Arts & Culture in Windsor where performers are offered the chance to put on their own gig or show in any of the three Firestation venues.
We want to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and showcase the talent in the South East. We’ve even been given the Inspire Mark by London 2012 in recognition of our work to celebrate the Olympics spirit and support current and emerging artistic talent of South East. This is an opportunity to celebrate London 2012, enjoy the experience and find opportunities to develop as artists.
How it will work:
The Day: On site at the Windsor Racecourse Olympic venue in Dorney, we have a large open outdoor performance area where performers can entertain an audience awaiting entrance into the rowing event area. There are likely to be two shifts in the early morning & one in the afternoon. Each shift is approx 1 hour and you can do multiple shifts if you want to. These shifts will be paid.
There are also opportunities to perform in Windsor Town Centre throughout the day.
The Night: Seeing as we are in the celebratory mood at Firestation we are spreading the festival across our three indoor spaces and waving hire fees for all free events. For example; It will cost you nothing to put on a gig or a show in our Auditorium at any time between 3 and 11pm for the whole two weeks, you will get tech support from our guys and get some free extra publicity through The Firestation will publicise your gig via our usual channels and the festival programme (although we suggest you spread the word yourself too). If you want to sell tickets to your event, all profit is a straight 50/50 split.
We’ll also be screening the Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies on Friday 27 July in house and may even have a party up our sleeves to celebrate The Games Walk project & Performance Festival.
Applicants for the Performance Festival need to contact programme@firestationartscentre.com with your proposition and detailing whether you would like to perform on site at the Racecourse, at The Firestation or both. Please include links to photos or audio and video clips, the more info we have about you and your work the better. Following receipt of your application you will be contacted to confirm the next steps.
On saturday we cycled and walked our way to the Firestation to launch The Games Walk project and show off the hard work Sustrans have put into the cycle networks around Eton & Dorney. We were joined by Jenna Hawkey, a GB Canoe Team Kyacker and the Ramblers Association who kindly led the walk through the Games Walk riverside route.
Once safely back at the Firestation, we heard from speakers from the Olympic Deliverance Authority, Sustrans and a Royal Borough of Windsor and Eton councillor and Jenna spoke wonderfully about what life was like as training locally for London2012 and how the Games Walk meant locals could become involved in the Games too. I think it’s safe to say Jenna is now our favourite athlete and all our fingers are crossed for her next qualifying round.
Our very special guests The Olympic Mascots rounded up the day. Wenlock and Mandeville met the kids and posed for photos to finish off what was a wonderful launch. A massive thank you to everyone who came down and helped out.
First Games Walk Installation Appears on Riverbank!
Lilyfee Master Carpenters have worked through rain and shine to get the First Games Walk Arts trail installation ready for our Launch event this Saturday, the 28th of April.
The poem, a collaborative effort penned by local families as well as school children from Queen Anne Primary, who attended our riverside workshops held with local poets Akulah Abgamiand Cecelia Grant Peters earlier in the year.
The Poetry Bridge can be found on the Eton/Dorney stretch of the Thames path National Trail. It is 5 minutes down river from the Elizabeth Bridge A332 Flyover.
The map for our led walks and rides this Saturday, 28th April at 1pm.
Keep Saturday the 28th free. It’s our Games Walk Launch and we’ve got ALOT of special guests #cough# Olympic Mascots #cough# and events planned. Watch this space….
The Firestation Centre for Arts and Culture is launching The Games Walk Performance Festival’ in celebration of The Cultural Olympiad and the Festival has now been granted the Inspire Mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme. The London 2012 Inspire programme recognises innovative and exceptional projects that are directly inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Performance Festival was created to celebrate the 2012 Games and to showcase the cultural achievements in the region. The fourteen day festival will run alongside the Olympic events in Dorney and see performances showcasing the region’s rich cultural talent, encouraging visitors to make more of their experience by exploring the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead at the end of their visit. Along with the on site events, The Firestation is continuing in the Olympic spirit of encouraging participation in the Arts by extending the festival across its three spaces and waving the hire fees for any public performance. All events will be combined into the two week long festival programme.
The Firestation believes that the Olympic and Paralympic events are a superb chance to mark this moment in the area’s history and will mount a borough wide search for the new and emerging musical, performance and artistic talent - this will extend into schools and will encourage new and aspiring performers to apply. There will be no specific genres, instead applicants for the Olympic venue will be chosen on talent and suitability to the outdoor location. The Firestation hopes to continue to foster relationships with the chosen young & emerging artists and become a venue that will support for their future careers.
Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games said: ’The Games Walk Performance Festival’ is encouraging talented young & emerging performersto fulfil their potential. I am proud that with the help of partners such as Firestation Centre for Arts and Culture, we are delivering our vision to use the power of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to boost participation in Windsor and the surrounding boroughs.’
The Games Walk Performance Festival will see dance companies, musicians, theatre groups and performers enliven and enrich the Olympic experience as well as supporting the emerging careers of budding performers through our in house shows. So if you are an aspiring performer of any kind and have always wanted to show your work to the world, then this is your chance!
Further details for the festival will be available here and on The Firestation’s Website. The Olympic site events will be open for applications soon. If you are interested in booking a space in the Firestation for the Festival, please contact programme@firestationartscentre.com
Design a bridge competition!
As part of The Games Walk we are creating two Fantasy Footsteps bridges. These are the metal footbridges that cross two streams which run into the main Thames. You can see them across the river if you stand on the river bank from The Windsor Leisure Centre and they are a few minutes walk down river from the Eton Brocas field.
Now, we’ve noticed the bridges need a little TLC, so as part of the Games Walk project we want to give the challenge of designing the colour scheme and pattern for the repainting to some aspiring young artists.
The Fantasy Footbridge project is open to anyone still at school (or home schooled), from nursery to year 11, who would like to have their design created for real on the bridges as part of a community paint day (or two).
If you would like to enter, read the info below the images and click on the pictures to englarge them, copy the pages posted and either print them out or paint them in online.
