Next week, enjoy a celebration of the creativity and vibrancy of Crawley as the Right Here Festival takes place. It’s a free festival of spoken word, dance, photography and film, with online and outdoor events.
This two-day festival will take place on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th January, to showcase the talent of the local area with more than 20 events for you to explore. You’ll be able to discover outdoor art around Crawley or hear a live talk with Grace Saif from 13 Reasons Why.
During the Right Here Festival, you’ll be able to take audio tours, enjoy storytelling for toddlers and join in with a sing-a-long for people with dementia. From writing to photography and images on lampposts, the festival aims to represent and cater for a diverse community, as well as entertain curious audiences.
The festival has been curated by Crawley born-and-raised Louise Blackwell, and West Sussex artist Sinead Emery. The festival events are split into four areas: Happenings, Workshops, Talks and Film, and In Your Home. Here’s what’s going on…
Happenings
These are events and exhibitions that are happening outdoors and online during the festival. They include ten images celebrating local people in lockdown, which can be found on lampposts across the town. There’s also an audio tour with recorded stories about local people’s favourite walks, and live-streamed poetry and music.
Workshops
Take part in interactive sessions, with something every age group. Enjoy workshops such as storytelling for toddlers, creative writing for mums of young children and sing-a-longs for people with dementia.
Talks & Film
Young people, including Crawley Community Youth Services and Manor Green College, have created films to be shown online during the festival. Creatives of Crawley, including actress Grace Saif (Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why) and drag queen Seb Livingstone, will talk about what inspires them and how they got into the arts.
In Your Home
And if you’re missing live music, you’ll be able to hear from Songbirds Virtual Choir and Dormans Youth Arts Centre. There will be other cultural events from the recommended book of the day to a live-streamed Festival Finale with short films, music and spoken word poetry. There will also be a recipe of the day to follow, and the Crawley Camera Club share their 2020 images.
When: 29th – 30th January 2021
Where: Online and outdoors across the town
£: Free
More info: creativecrawley.com