Surrey Youth Arts Culture Festival to Ignite Camberley with Creativity

The Surrey Youth Arts and Culture Festival returns for 2024, taking place in Camberley on 1 and 2 November.

Once again, Surrey based cultural organisations, creative industries and education providers will come together to deliver the festival.

The festival has been developed by Surrey County Council, in partnership with Surrey Heath Borough Council, and a wide range of organisations across Higher Education, Creative Industries and the Cultural Sector.  Supported through funding from Arts Council England and Surrey Heath Borough Council the event provides free workshops and performances for young people aged 11 – 16, providing insight into creative industries and the cultural sectors and offering creative skills development opportunities across Surrey. The festival has received £3,400 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

In 2023, the festival took place in Staines-upon-Thames and Redhill and reached over 1,400 young people. 25 creative organisations took part and evidenced a strong appetite for projects and programmes which aim to promote arts and culture for young people.

The Surrey Youth Arts and Culture Festival programme aims to create a lasting legacy by enhancing relationships between Surrey based creative industry and cultural sectors, bringing them together to break down barriers to engagement, raise aspirations for young people, as well as enhancing the perception of Surrey as a creative and cultural location.

The festival programme begins in July 2024, with over 25 events taking place across Surrey to get involved in, culminating in the final event in Camberley in November.

An extensive outreach programme is planned in the run up to the festival, including assemblies in local secondary schools on the benefits of taking part in the arts for skills and wellbeing.

Denise Turner-Stewart, Surrey County Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities said: “We are incredibly excited to bring the Surrey Youth Arts Culture Festival to Camberley following the success of the 2023 festival which took place in both Redhill and Staines. This event is a testament to the amazing talent and creativity of our young people and provides a much-needed opportunity for them to explore the diverse world of arts and culture in their local area.

“We invite anyone aged 11 to 16 to get involved and sign up for this exciting event.” The full programme for the festival in November will be released in August 2024. Find out more by visiting the Culture Box website at www.cultureboxsurrey.org.uk