Festival of Hope

Five festival sites will be launching their August festivals.

Two groups of young people in Winsford and Chester have joined their collaborative forces with other museums involved in the project: Tullie House (Carlisle), Lancashire Learning Team, The Atkinson (Sefton)  and Bolton Museum to produce a launch event where museums staff and the press can attend to learn more about the Festival of Hope and what each group of young people will be producing.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic the challenges for the festival grew, but undaunted the two groups in Winsford and Chester have adapted to produce two local and unique festivals.

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council said: “This is a group of young people who have astounded the museum mentors they have been working with. One element included an artist commission that received an astonishing 230 applications from artists in Cheshire, the UK and even other parts of the world including an artist based in New Zealand.

“The artists have now been shortlisted and our young people have appointed six incredible artists who will be helping them to make the Festival of Hope happen in August.”

Hope Streets is a project aimed to change how the museum service works with young people. 

The Young Producers in Winsford will be presenting a street art installation and working with the local community to help collect artefacts from this time period; which can then be added into the museum’s collection.  The Young Producers want to share the heritage of Winsford with the local community, they feel that not everyone is aware of the communal heritage and feel that this is an important story that needs to be told. They want to bring hope to their town and leave a lasting legacy.

The Chester Young Producers are producing a digital festival over two days in Chester using online platforms. It is billed as a festival for a young curious mind who is willing to welcome and explore with other curious minds.