Four Winds Festival 2011 Media Release
19 June 2011
Four Winds Festival is just days away
After months of planning and preparation the Four Winds Festival featuring the spectacular performance of “The Way the Winds Blow” will be held thisweekend at Rutland Water, (6.30pm).
Told in an atmospheric treat of music The Way the Winds Blow is the story of Rutland Water narrated by Hannah Gordon featuring giant Osprey puppets, 100 boats and over 500 local and international artists.
The evening show is ticketed with gates opening at 5.30pm and the performance starting at 6.30pm. Tickets are available online now at www.fourwindsfestival.co.uk and show visitors are encouraged to buy their tickets in advance.
In the final week to the staging of the show, the cast including Senegalese drummers, crew and the thousands of pieces that will create the puppets will be arriving at Rutland Water.
The festival production has sought local participation from its inception in bringing the story to life and
will include:
·Rutland primary schools
·Rutland secondary schools
·Youth Brass 2000
·Rutland Concert Band
·Amateur dramatics groups
·Opera groups
·Sailability group
·Rutland Sailing Club – Adults and youth sections
·University of Leicester Sailing Club
·25 technicians drawn from local arts societies and trained and supported by a professional team
·The professional theatre company El Glayu from Asturias in Spain
·Performers from St Mary’s University College, London
·Senegalese professional percussionists supporting 60 young Rutland people
Peter Davis, Head of Music at Oakham School is the Musical Director.
Prior to the evening shows on the banks of Rutland Water visitors can enjoy for free a range of family based activities at the Four Winds Festival. From 12noon to 4pm, workshops and hands-on experiences are on offer with puppet making, music and wind chime production, sailing opportunities and views of the Rutland Water osprey nests.
The festival title of “Four Winds Festival” refers to the four kinds of wind represented in the show: The wind used by the sailors in their sails; The wind on which the Osprey flies between Rutland and Senegal;The wind used by the musicians and singers; the wind with which the boats sail and finally the winds of creativity which pulls everything together.
There are just 5,000 tickets for both the Saturday and Sunday evening performances and organisers indicate that tickets for the show are selling fast and recommend snapping tickets up as early as possible to guarantee a place at this unique and breathtaking event. Arts for Rutland, the organisation leading, promoting and supporting the arts in Rutland have joined forces with a number of supporters to bring the Four Winds Festival to the East Midlands.
The Four Winds Festival, incorporating The Way the Winds Blow is part of the Igniting Ambition Festival 2011, a Cultural Olympiad programme in the East Midlands and has attracted funding from Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). MJE Productions are the lead sponsor.
Tickets for The Way the Winds Blow are on now sale priced at £5 for concessions, £10 for adults and a family ticket for five guests is £25 and available online at www.fourwindsfestival.co.uk. The latest festival news is also shared on the festival’s twitter account @4windsfestival.
Image: Production crew test the 11m Osprey puppet
Notes to Editors:
For further information, images and interviews please contact Holland Alexander, the Four Winds Festival PR team on 0116 2616 6867 or email to louise@hollandalexander.com or claire@hollandalexander.com. Interviews and images can be taken of the preparations on site on Wednesday 22nd June from 2pm to 5pm.
1. Arts for Rutland
Arts for Rutland is a Registered Charity and is committed to leading, promoting and supporting the arts in Rutland. It consists of a committee and representatives of many arts organisations and individuals as
would like to be involved. The Arts include, film, theatre, music, comedy, dance, visual arts, creative writing and any other art form which the organisation recognises. Arts for Rutland seek to promote the wealth of enterprise and activity in the county by whatever means possible.
2. Igniting Ambition as part of the Cultural Olympiad Programme
The Four Winds Festival is part of Igniting Ambition, a Cultural Olympiad programme in the East Midlands which invests in projects and people that take the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as their inspiration to create once in a lifetime cultural opportunities for audiences and communities.
Igniting Ambition is funded by Legacy Trust UK an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the European Regional Development Fund and the East Midlands Development Agency with the support of Arts Council England and many others.
Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK and is also a principal funder of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival. The trust is funded by a £40 million endowment from the Big Lottery Fund (£29m), the Department for Culture Media and Sport (£6m) and Arts Council England (£5m).
Legacy Trust UK supports a wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities that celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will leave a lasting legacy in communities throughout the United Kingdom.
Legacy Trust UK is a principal funder of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival 2012. The Trust is funded by a £40 million endowment from the Big Lottery Fund (£29m), Department for Culture Media and Sport (£6m) and Arts Council England (£5m).
3.Anglian Water – Rutland Water Park, Festival location
Set in 4,200 acres of open countryside, the water park is the central attraction in England’s smallest county of Rutland and offers activities for all the family, including cycling, bird watching, fishing, sailing and other watersports. There is also a nature reserve managed with the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. In the summer the reserve is home to several pairs of breeding ospreys. In 2001 it became the first place these magnificent birds of prey had successfully bred in England for 150 years.
Work to expand and improve the nature reserve at Rutland is an example of Anglian Water’s commitment to the environment. This is reinforced by the company’s Love Every Drop manifesto, which includes commitments to cut carbon emissions and protect and enhance biodiversity.
4. Chris Baldwin, Artistic Director and Playwright
Chris Baldwin (Artistic Director of Spiral www.spiraltheatre.co.uk) has written and directed 150 plays for theatres across Europe. He has also been guest director for theatre companies in England, Germany, Spain and Poland and gained an international reputation as a teacher of theatre practice.
Chris is also a member of the European Working Group into the function and management of European Arts Festivals. He is a Professor of theatre direction at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in London.
5. Peter Davis, Musical Director
Peter began his musical education as a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral returning as organ scholar in his gap year. He studied music at Cambridge University and as an organ scholar at St John’s College, and having graduated with a first-class music degree, he moved into the teaching profession. He became one of the youngest HMC Directors of Music at Haileybury in 2000, building up the school’s music until they won the BBC Songs of Praise title of School Choir of the Year in 2005. He moved to Oakham School as Director of Music in 2005, overseeing one of the largest school departments in the country.
ENDS