Summary of our use of artists and development of street artists
This page gives you information on how to get as booking as an artist at one of our events, how to join in as a community project and how to join in as a volunteer. Scroll down the page to find the information you are looking for.
We work very closely with another Manchester based organisation, called x.trax. They work to support British street artists and festivals to become more successful successful in a still very tight marketplace. X.trax works closely with us and other organisations to
- encourage programmers (bookers) to come to events to see artists at work and contract them to appear at their events.
- encourage artists from culturally diverse backgrounds to make outdoor work
- encourage artists with disabilities to make outdoor work
- provide an excellent website for all artists working outdoors, which now contains video-streaming and other facilities.
- momnitor the economic impact of their services on the business lives of street performance artists and companies in the UK.
Click here for information on x.trax - www.xtrax.org.uk
All our events use artists, usually a number of different groups at one event. Our work is predominantly outdoors, so we programme a lot of street theatre, circus, puppetry, dance and music, along with larger scale shows that use water, fire or fireworks and site specific outdoor work. We are delighted that there is a growing number of street shows; of these, many are good and some are excellent and starting to getting international bookings. Much of the work in the UK is circus oriented and it is refreshing to see some new theatrical ideas being developed from circus roots. We are also very aware that there are few companies at work in some artforms - eg street dance; Black, Asian and Chinese arts (apart from music); temporary visual installations and would like to encourage more of these.
We are very concerned to support the development of street arts in the UK. We are active members in the Independent Street Arts Network, an organisation of promoters and programmers who are working to encourage interest in this area of work and encourage good practice. We meet regularly to share commissioning ideas, pool resources to bring international artists into the UK, draw up guidelines for employing street artists and health and safety. We have also been lobbying the Arts Funding Bodies and the DCMS to give a higher priority to the street arts. In 2002, the Arts Council of England produced a Strategy for Street Arts, And is slowly (much too slowly in our opinion) increasing its financial commitment to this work.
Getting Bookings at Our Events
We aim to programme our events several months before they take place. This is not always possible as confirmation of funding often comes very late!
Our Programming Policy:
We select from a wide range of street performers, most of whom we know and have seen at x.trax or Streets Ahead over the years, and we also visit other festivals in the UK and abroad to look for work. We like to programme a mix of theatre, music and circus, with as much street dance and other artforms as we can find. Artists we book are always paid fees and expenses. We always provide parking and dressing room facilities with refreshments.
When we are organising an event jointly with x.trax, we prefer to select recent work or work that has not been seen much before. Please let us know of any new shows you are making. Please note however, that it is not a good idea to bring a show to x.trax that may not be ready. It can do artists an immense amount of damage for programmers to see a show that is not good enough yet - they will not book you! We do present a small number of new shows with a label “en route”, which means that programmers are advised that this show is very new and still developing. Please make sure you tell us if you wish to be considered as 'en route'. En route performers are not paid a fee, but we do cover expenses.
Performing artists: We use static and strolling groups - we are always keen to encourage good quality fixed shows, which form the ‘anchor’ of an event. Strolling performers (music and theatre) fit around these. It is worth pointing out that we have difficulty programming strolling music that is loud (eg samba) as it is so hard for them to avoid disturbing other groups and yet stay within the festival atmosphere! We make every effort to accommodate everyone, but therefore have to select carefully.
Visual artists: the Garden of Delights offered much more scope for visual artists to make work for temporary installation on festival sites – sculptures, follies, tented structures, site decorations (banners, flags, gateway entrances), or miniature exhibitions or performances inside boxes or tents. We remain keen to encourage artists to make work not for galleries alone as there is a growing market at outdoor festivals for interesting structures, and will look for further opportunities.
Media Artists: as above, we are interested in the possibility of photography and video projects being done for ‘booths’ … and many other possibilities we have not thought of.
We programme both day and night-time shows for different events.
We keep the use of large music stages to a minimum - usually a maximum of one per event, unless there is a special focus on music and the event is very large (eg BBC Music Live). The music we present is lively and mostly danceable. Much of it is 'world music' - soca, salsa, bluegrass, cajun, Irish, African, bhangra, steel bands etc. We don't tend to programme much classical, indie, reggae or club music as other festivals exist in the city that do this very successfully or it does not lend itself to the atmosphere we are trying to create at our events.
We programme international companies if they are:
- In Britain already - in which case we treat them more like British groups
- They are doing something novel and unique, in which case we see their work as being of great interest to British artists as well as audience
We are not able to programme many foreign groups as the fees are often higher and travel costs are always substantial.
We always prioritise companies from the North West Arts region.
In our larger events, we encourage participation by amateur and community groups
(see below)
If you would like us to programme you/your group, please send us details about your show / band. Enclose as much information to help us if you think we may not have seen you eg videos (unedited please, we prefer to see poor camerawork and a good show rather than the opposite!), CDs , tapes, photos. Send to 3 Birch Polygon, Manchester M14 5HX, England email: jeremy@streetsahead.org.uk
Community Participation and Amateur Groups
There are almost unlimited ways of participating in our projects - with a show you have worked up, with visual images, sculptures, photos, pavement art, wacky hair design, things in shops, cafes, bars, on street corners; unusual stalls, street painting at an easel, street games... you come up with the ideas, we'll see if there's a suitable space.
As well as the above, groups and individuals can make decorations, pennants, banners and other visual things; in the past some have made video programmes; some have used events to develop their photographic skills; some have trained to be stewards.
The sky’s the limit for ideas, but please remember to contact us as soon as you can to let us know you would like to work on something. We can put you in touch with artists, or suggest how you may best be involved.
And remember, once you've done something once, you'll get the bug, we assure you!!
Involvement with FEAST! Picnic by the Lake 2007
There are lots of different levels you can get involved in this, according to how much time you have, how much you like showing off or performing, how many people you can get to come with you. Here is a list of suggestions, from the simplest to the most exciting - and there are bound to be those amongst you who do things we havent even dreamed of!
1. come on your own Bring some candles and some flowers (There will be food available to buy and entertainment and activities/things to do throughout the time you are there. There will also be candelabra and vases, flowerbowls, urns etc )
2. Come in a group with friends, family, a group you work with, a social network, people down your street. Bring some candles and some flowers
3. Come with a picnic you have prepared, (and candles and flowers) and/or a barbecue, a big rug or tablecloth to sit on - or you can lay your tablecloth out on one of the long tables we shall have there and sit round that
4. Come with or without picnic, in style - dress up, create a special area to sit in - with flags, banners or whatever
5. Come with a celebratory performance, magic, dial a poem/song ….. lucky dip, anything that you can take round tables and share with other picnickers
Make your picnic area a must-see for other picnickers!
If you would like any ideas, please contact us - click here. We are hoping to run some special workshops in Birch Community Centre or Trinity House to make candlesticks, tablecloths and other decorative things. Also, we will try and support special projects that community groups want to do - art, craft and performance workshops, special food preparation, activities. Here are some suggestions:
Arts and crafts - making table decorations (candlestick holders, lanterns, vases and containers for flowers, centrepieces, tablemats and tablecloths) Making of decorations for the environment the feast takes place in - banners, water decorations for the lakeside, tree decorations, ''thrones'
Celebratory performance - presenting entertainment in the form of acoustic music, dance, spoken word. You could do 'at the table' entertainment, or something for a fixed space for people to come and find you.
Food - we hope to get funding to run a 'world food café' - celebratory food and local delicacies, for large numbers of people, made by people from different cultural traditions. This may involve preparation of costumes and simple performance for those serving food and waiters/waitresses.
Helping us run our events - volunteers and stewards
We are always being asked whether we can offer paid or volunteer work for people through the year, but especially at the events themselves. We do involve many people to help us on the day, keep artists and audience safe end ensure that the programme runs on time and without hitches. These people also know what to do in emergencies.
There are three different kinds of people we use
- professional stewards from a security company - the kind of peple you might call 'bouncers' at night clubs. We need very few of these but we usually employ a few, especially for night time events
- our stewarding team - this team is made of local people who come and work on events. All of them have other jobs or are students. Many have been with us for more than 10 years and are now very experienced. These people care all trained by us and manage all the sites in teams. They are paid.
- our volunteer team - we do not expect volunteers to tsake responsibvility for any emergencies. Usually we give volunteers the role of helping look after artsists in the dressing rooms, running the information stall, helping out swith games and activitiy workshops or shadowing experienced stewards. Our volunteers often progress into the stewarding team.
If you would like to join us, please click here...
North West Gegants
This local group makes and parades large carnival structures and puppets, that we use at many of our events.
If you are interested in making or performing inside one of the 'gegants', please phone David 0161 248 5727 or email gegants@streetsahead.org.uk
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