AS there is no Village Beach in Thurrock this year, we thought you might want to travel down the coast to this event in Southend.
Arts organisation, Metal, have announced the first of the programme for their much loved annual festival Village Green, which will take place this year on 8 July 2017 in Chalkwell Park, Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
The brilliant mix of local and international talent, of literature, art and music, all presented in an urban park in Chalkwell, is one of the key events on the Southend cultural calendar. This year’s festival is set to attract a diverse audience of people of all ages and from all walks of life. With the main music headliner announced as Southend’s finest, Nothing But Thieves. After a critically acclaimed album they are now riding the wave of a global buzz which has already well and truly ignited in the US, with an appearance this week on the Conan O’Brian show and single “Wake Up Call’ currently most added @Alt Radio. As well as sold out shows in the UK, Japan and USA they recently completed a successful run of European arena shows with fellow Brits, Muse. As well as headlining Village Green they will also be playing Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds Festivals.
Joining them at the top of the bill on the Village Green Stage is Kate Nash, the acclaimed singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actress, currently on a sell out tour around the UK. With a platinum selling album and a BRIT Award tucked firmly under her belt, Kate is known across both the music and fashion industries as a forthright songwriter, unabashed feminist and front row style icon. Further music acts for the Village Green Stage will to be announced soon, including the long tradition of showcasing local talent alongside national treasures on the main stage with the winner of the Essex Undiscovered competition given the opening slot.
Alongside the main stage action, back this year showcasing plenty of local Southend music talent are the Idea13 Stage (curated by promoters Chinnerys, The Railway, Cool Thing Records and South Essex College); the Oak Stage, showcasing emerging talent (for under 25s) and Chalkwell Park Rooms. Mini Green will also make a return for 2017 – with music, entertainment and all kinds of things to do for tots under 6 years.
Applications for local bands and musicians of all kinds are now open. 25 performance slots are available across the festival. Forms can be found at www.villagegreenfestival.com – go to CONTACT tab.
New for 2017, in celebration of the rise of great food and drink independents across Southend in the last few years, Village Green is introducing a new street food vibe in the Meadow Field. Demos, recipe shares, foraging tips and tasters, world food and a farmers market are planned. Alongside this, our Culinary Comedy Big Top boasts a stellar line up with the BBC comedian, broadcaster, journalist, and chef Hardeep Singh Kohli bringing his show Chat Masala, the resulting curry is shared with the audience – what more do we need to say! George Egg: Anarchist Cook the fanatical self-taught cook with a somewhat anarchic approach to making meals brings a surreal and absurd mix of stand-up comedy and striking innovation, following is 2016 sell-out Edinburgh show. Hilarious Podcaster Global Pillage, led by Australian stand up and screenwriter Deborah Frances-White with invited guests, debate and explore the world of food, idiom, culture, customs and norms.
As in other years, Visual Art will be evident across the festival site – with a concentration of exhibition, market-place and makers around the games courts. An Art Car Boot Rally invites artists and makers, creative curiosities, vintage collectibles to show and/or sell from their own car boots. Railing Against the Machine is a free for all exhibition of work on the railings of the basketball court. The March of the Makers marquee will have demonstrations, workshops and exhibition of all kinds of contemporary craft from pottery to crochet.
You might be able to detect in all our stage names and titles this year that the Village Green team are feeling more than a little feisty. With the distinct feeling of change in the air, we have been getting out and polishing all our best Positive Protest materials to do our bit to campaign for a better and fairer world. Sign of the Times invites everyone to take part, commissioned local artists will lead the way in the creation of a mass installation of signs, placards, slogans and imagery to celebrate the wit, humour and positivity of communities coming together to make change. All ages are invited to bring along positive protest imagery. What cause is dear to your heart? What gets you marching? Bring along a contribution – or make one while you’re here at the festival – either way we’d love to hear your voice!
Sticking with the theme of positive protest – we are also inviting everyone to take part in a ‘Love In’ to our brilliant hometown. 2017 is the 125th year of the Borough of Southend on Sea. In celebration, launching on Valentine’s Day we are asking people to create a Love Letter to Southend. All over town you will find postcards waiting for your best creative message. It can be a drawing, a poem, a letter, just a symbol or anything you like. Just post them back to us at Metal and they will be part of a huge exhibition at Village Green.
GET INVOLVED
There are lots of opportunities to get involved in Village Green. To apply to perform, creatively participate, or volunteer and help with the back stage running please visit www.villagegreenfestival.com and go to the CONTACT tab.
HOW TO BUY TICKETS
Tickets now on sale at www.villagegreenfestival.com
FREE for 10 years and under;
£10 for 11-17 year olds
£15.00 for an adult ticket
On festival day (8 July) adult tickets will be £20 and Teen Tickets will be £15.
Tickets are available online 24 hours at www.villagegreenfestival.com
Any issues, there is a customer helpline at Skiddle on 0333 3010101 (open Mon-Fri 9am-6pm; Sat 10am-5pm; Closed Sunday).
Metal have set aside FREE tickets for low income families and individuals in Southend. These can be secured with Southend Borough Council through their Southend Advantage Card scheme.
For more details of the Advantage Card scheme visit: http://www.southend.gov.uk/info/200354/sports_and_leisure/109/southend_advantage_card
For more details of how to claim your FREE ticket – call Metal on 01702 470700 / chalkwell@metalculture.com
For further press queries on Village Green 2016 or images of previous events, please contact press@metalculture.com or phone 01702 470700 or go to: www.villagegreenfestival.com
Arty farty rubbish. I would even visit it at Grays Beach which is local to me. Spoilt my enjoyment when T-Fest was cancelled.