Back for its 23rd year, Leicester music mogul and The South frontman, Gaz Birtles will kick off De Montfort University Leicester’s (DMU) annual Cultural eXchanges festival.
From Monday 26 February, creative industries will come together to take part in a week-long series of events organised by Arts and Festivals Management students.
This year, the arts and culture festival will be showcasing up-and-coming talent through art, music and drama to help educate the local community about the UK creative industries.
One of the headlining acts, Face the Musician will host a mashup of new indie, rock and R&B artists to Leicester’s Firebug, plus a pre-gig Q+A from Gaz Birtles.
Other events include talks from Leicester Comedy Festival founder and DMU Alumni, Geoff Rowe and the founder of the Cultural eXchanges, Tony Graves.
There will be modern era re-enactment of Romeo and Juliet by the Nottingham Shakespeare Company and an industry networking walk and talk at Bradgate Park.
Workshops, film screenings and panel discussions will also take place throughout the week to inspire the Leicester community, fellow creative and students through local arts and culture.
In the past, the festival has attracted the likes of the ShxtsNGigs podcast, choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne OBE, well-known drag artist Jamie Campbell and iconic fashion designer Katharine Hamnett.
Student organiser Jacob Ward, said: “This year, we’ve tried to think outside the box and come up with ideas that are really creative.
“Last year, students managed to secure the ShxtsNGigs podcast, which is obviously huge, and it was hard because we felt like we had to match that.
“What we’ve done instead is combine all of our own interests and everyone has put in so much effort to come up with something different. Like the walk and talk at Bradgate Park, that’s never been before and it’s getting people out into the countryside. It’s forced us to be creative.”
Ahead of the festival, students take care of everything ranging from securing the acts to budgeting and marketing. Talking about what has gone into the planning of the event, Sharna Clixby said:
“We all had very different ideas but we wanted to make sure everyone’s idea was included. So, we all sat down and said, ‘right this is how much we’ve got and this is how much this is going to cost.’ If something was out of our budget or not feasible, we’d compromise and negotiate to get the costs down and make it happen to the best of our ability."
“I’m looking forward to seeing the events take place and hearing people say they’ve had a good time.
“All the months of hard work that has gone into it, and seeing people enjoying themselves is exactly what we want and will all be worth it.”
Jacob added: “I just love being engaged in the arts as a whole and I’m also very passionate about bringing the arts to people and giving people opportunities to witness and create art.
“That’s kind of where I want to go and I feel like I’ve been able to channel that through this festival. All the events are free and if they’re not free, then they’re so much cheaper through the festival.
“For example, the Nottingham Shakespeare Company, that alone is half the price of standard tickets. Being able to provide people with free events and opportunities is what I want to do in the future.”
The festival will take place from Monday 26 February until Friday 1 March and is sponsored by Unite Students.
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Posted on Monday 19 February 2024