The sounds of New Orleans will fill a travelling big-top in Newport tomorrow (Friday), as a major 6-week celebration of Isle of Wight creativity and culture gets underway.
Creative Island, the Cultural Development Agency for the Isle of Wight, is launching CAN YOU HEAR US? with an opening ceremony at the newly launched Ventnor Exchange Arena.
The travelling venue will be pitched at Victoria Recreation Ground in Carisbrooke, where Sol’s Hot Town Stompers will bring soul, jazz and the atmosphere of a New Orleans street party to the opening night.
Cabaret, close-up magic, puppetry from New Carnival and live theatre will also feature, alongside special guests from across the CAN YOU HEAR US? programme.
The Arena will combine cabaret-style seating with standing areas, while sideshows and performances take place around the venue, allowing visitors to move around and discover different acts.
Friday’s launch marks the beginning of a programme running until 24th October, bringing theatre, carnival, music, food, nature, craft and folklore to towns and villages across the Isle of Wight.
The Ventnor Exchange Arena will travel from Newport to Sandown, becoming the centre of a temporary cultural hub at each stop.
Among the events planned is Shademakers’ Ship of Hope, which will transform Ryde’s Union Street with a large-scale promenade carnival involving 250 community performers and the legendary Kraken.
Somewhen Survival Society will take over village halls around the Harvest Moon for storytelling, songs and shared feasts featuring foraged and Isle of Wight-grown food.
StoneCrabs Theatre will stage performed walks exploring the Island’s hidden LGBTQ+ history, while Artswork will lead Listen Up!, a youth film festival featuring Isle of Wight students.
The festival will showcase 6 films created in response to the question: “If adults were listening, what would you tell them?”
More than 50 Isle of Wight-based partner organisations and charities are involved in CAN YOU HEAR US?, bringing together artists, makers, performers, writers and community participants.
Gavin Stride, Director of Creative Island, has said:
“CAN YOU HEAR US? celebrates all that the Island is and all the ways that we express who we are as singers and bell ringers, fine artists and gardeners.
“Our dearest hope is that people will be surprised by what exists here and that we might start to describe who we are confidently to the wider world.”
The programme is led by Creative Island with support from Arts Council England’s Place Partnership Fund and the Isle of Wight Council.
Organisers say the Isle of Wight’s cultural and creative sector comprises around 200 predominantly small, grassroots organisations and supports around 2,500 jobs.
