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2007: Celebrating a Thousand Years of Oxfordshire
Oxford Inspires, the cultural development agency for Oxfordshire, is coordinating a year of Festivals and Special Events in 2007. A key aim in the county's anniversary year will also be to give a higher profile to the remarkable array of cultural activity in the city and county, thereby encouraging visitors to stay longer. This will include promoting the best of Oxfordshire's culture—highlighting some of the main events promoted throughout the year by a wide range of cultural organisations.
Oxford Inspires itself will not organise any festival or Special Event in 2007: its role is as initiator, capacity builder, fund-raiser (though not a grant giver) and coordinator. It is also heavily involved in a central marketing role, promoting the year and raising its profile.
The following list is a taster of Special Events planned for next year. The lead organisation (where applicable) and event 'champion' are included.
Oxford Unmasked: The Big Picnic
A new music event for Oxford 2007
EiE Showcase of Environmental Achievements
A Music Festival at Campsfield Removal Centre
Festival of Choral & Inspirational Music
Children's Food Festival—Oxford Inspires
The UK's first ever Children's Food Festival, known as Munch at the Clumps, will be held over the weekend of 14 and 15 July 2007. The event will take place against the stunning backdrop of the Wittenham Clumps, at the Northmoor Trust's conservation farm 10 miles south of Oxford. Raymond Blanc and Sophie Grigson are the patrons of the festival and they lead a strong line-up of chefs, restaurants and farmers who are all taking part.
The festival will be free and there will be chef's demos, cookery competitions, 'field to fork' food stories, walkabout theatre, a talks and debating marquee, farm animals and rare breeds and mediaeval food tastings. Visitors can have a 'Wandering Picnic' through the farmers' market of local, organic and fair trade produce.
Eka Morgan, Food & Environment Coordinator, Oxford Inspires
eka.morgan@oxfordinspires.org; 01865 810838 (Wed–Fri)
A Festival Concert—Anthony Kerr-Dineen, St Edward's School
We are aiming for a large-scale, spectacular musical feast which will draw on the richness and strength of the music in the city and in the county, and which involves talented musicians of all ages. The concert will be a real celebration. Imagine this: it's Sunday 13 May 2007. It's a stunning evening in South Park and the audience, including parents and friends of the 800 performers, are just beginning to settle on the grassy slope, which forms a natural amphitheatre. The night before there was a rock concert and the same huge covered stage, flanked by the displays of the sponsors, is now set up for large orchestra and chorus.
The first half of the concert features performers of school age. The County's flagship youth orchestra, the CMS Sinfonia opens the concert, playing a full length overture, possibly one celebrating the 150th anniversary of Elgar's birth. Excited groups of younger children take over, giving the first performance of a piece written especially for the occasion by John Madden, an Oxford teacher/composer. Oxfordshire has one of the strongest Independent and State School Partnerships in the country, and the piece—a setting of Circus Songs (by John Mole)—deliberately draws on singers and instrumentalists from both sectors.
The second half of concert consists of a single work: William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. The mainly adult musical forces are enormous. The Oxford University Orchestra is at full strength with 90 players and it supports a large chorus with the St Edward's Singers and the Oxford Bach Choir at its core. The university-based Chamber Choir Schola Cantorum provides the semi-chorus and the conductor at the centre of it all is Neville Creed, the Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Choir and Director of Music at St Edward's. As dusk falls, and the work builds to its glorious conclusion with the Alleluias flying, fireworks join in to round off the Festival Concert in truly spectacular style....
Anthony Kerr-Dineen, Director of Cultural Activities & Director of SES Arts
kerra@stedwards.oxon.sch.uk; 01865 319357
Oxford Unmasked: The Big Picnic—Roman Krznaric, The Oxford Muse
When a festival or carnival is held in Venice, the citizens of the city each put on a mask. In 2007, the Oxford Muse invites the people of Oxford to do the opposite. We plan to bring the city 'Oxford Unmasked', a series of conversational events in which individuals from Oxford's diverse communities talk with people they would not normally meet and exchange experiences and thoughts about who they really are and how they see the world. Participants sit in pairs and have a discussion that gets beyond superficial talk by using the Muse's unique 'Menu of Conversation', which contains questions on many aspects of life such as friendship, community, family, compassion and curiosity. The conversations provide a creative approach to building community trust and mutual understanding in the city.
Thanks to our partner BMW Group Plant Oxford, home of Mini production, the project is beginning in 2006 with three Conversation Meals for representatives from a wide range of community organisations, local government, public services, educational institutions, local businesses and faith groups. In 2007, further meals will culminate in a mass Conversation Picnic in a public park, to which the whole city will be invited.
Roman Krznaric
roman@oxfordmuse.com; 01865 791421
The Faces of Oxfordshire—Carol Anderson, The Oxfordshire Museum
Your face is your fortune; his face said it all; his history was written on the lines of his face. The human face is the outward expression of the individual in society. The faces of the people of Oxfordshire are what make the county distinctive: our histories and cultures are written in the faces of those who have lived here over the 1000 years of the county's existence.
This project, beginning in 2006, will celebrate the people who have lived here through explorations of their faces. It will encompass the different communities of the county, both ethnic and demographic, and explore issues of individual and community identity and of social inclusion and exclusion.
As well as capturing and presenting the contemporary Faces of Oxfordshire in innovative ways and recording these for posterity, this event will reveal and celebrate those whose faces are hidden by history and from contemporary society.
Partners so far include: OVADA and Modern Art Oxford, Oxfordshire County Council Cultural Services, Oxfordshire Museums Council, University of Oxford Museums, Oxfordshire Artweeks, Priart and Campsfield House, Oxford Film & Video Makers and Artspace.
Carol Anderson
carol.anderson@oxfordshire.gov.uk; 01993 814104
'007 Out of Africa'—commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Parliamentary abolition of the transatlantic slave trade—Junie James, African & Caribbean Kultural Heritage Initiative (ACKHI)
To borrow the words of David Lammy MP, Minister for Culture in a recent presentation:
"As a society we could approach that date in a number of ways. We could see it as a chance to try to right some historic wrongs. We could try to teach our young people about a practice that may seem completely alien to them, but which has had a massive impact on the world to this day. We could see it as an opportunity to portray a different side of Britain's history, one that may well make some people ashamed of their ancestors and others proud. We could reflect on the values and assumptions about race equality that supported slavery, and those that inspired abolitionists. We could celebrate the economic, political and military strength that made Britain's decision to abolish slavery so wide-reaching. We could make the connection between slavery and modern day injustices, like people trafficking."
This will be a year-long programme with two key dates: 25 March—the two-hundredth anniversary of the day on which the Act abolishing the slave trade received Royal Assent, and the month of October—traditionally 'African (Black) History Month'.
Individual and organisational partners and spaces (for offices, rehearsals, performances, workshops, conferences and seminars) are needed, as well as sponsorship and donations. We would also like to involve faith groups in a multi-faith memorial service.
Junie James
outofafrica2007@yahoo.co.uk; ackhi2007@yahoo.co.uk; 0845 166 1753; 07986 877324
House Concerts—Matt Sage, Big Village/The Catweazle Club
Big Village wish to host a series of twelve high quality world- and roots-music events (each to include a concert, workshop, film, lecture, etc. from a different country) in "special settings" throughout the County at the rate of one per month for the duration of 2007.
These could be in:
• Private Houses—We are not necessarily talking about stately
homes here—the important factor is that there is enough space to
hold an event, and a supportive patron, or mentor, who is open to having
something of this nature happen in their home.
• Public Spaces—There is a wealth of magnificent—and less magnificent but no less interesting—"public" buildings in towns and villages throughout Oxfordshire that are rarely, if ever, used to host music concerts. It is our intention to find some of the most charismatic of these and to encourage those charged with managing them to open their doors to the public in a new and stimulating way.
• During the summer months we'll want to take our events outdoors and into nature.
Big Village is fast becoming established as a leading producer of world and roots music in Oxfordshire and we wish to host a series of unforgettable events in 2007 celebrating commonality, community and the beauty of the place in which we live.
Matt Sage
matt@mattsage.com; 01865 247714
Mystery Arabian Scottish Play—David Parrish, Creation Theatre Company
Creation will attract 70,000 people to shows in unusual locations in 2007. We will produce The Oxford Mystery Play. If York, Chester and Coventry can host mass community events every two, three or four years, why not Oxford? Also, we'd love to find further partners for an open-air summer spectacular production of Arabian Nights. These amazing stories show people from Basra, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad and Jerusalem as real human beings, not stereotypes, bad guys or terrorists. We would be delighted if we can stage a community production of Macbeth in a neighbourhood which does not usually attract a lot of theatre—imagine people who hated Shakespeare at school (and maybe hated school) being in a professional production and in the process being exposed to the treasury of Shakespeare. Finally, The Mirror Tent will be back in 2007—perhaps part of your event could use it....
David Parrish
producer@creationtheatre.co.uk; 01865 761393
In-Tent-City—Tara Stewart, Fusion: Oxford's Community Arts Agency
In-Tent-City—an idea encompassing social inclusion, capacity building, creative interpretation of transitory space and cultural diversity. Through the arts, In-tent-city will create a new resource for a range of groups and organisations, and will aim to make a visual impact on festival events all around the county in 2007, as well as creating a unique mobile exhibition in themselves.
Artists will work with host organisations and diverse community groups on overall design and, through participatory workshops, each tent frame will be artistically transformed to physically embody themes/ideas specific to the host groups who will use them.
Textile arts are a likely means for transformation but also fabric painting, photo-transfers, projection, etc. Using panels of work attached with Velcro means the exhibition inside or out can be changeable. Tents can also form a unique mobile venue for performance, information, exhibition, sales, story-telling, rest areas, workshop space, etc. for future years.
Partner organisations for In-tent-city will contribute in a variety of ways depending on their capacity but each potential tent will need a host organisation, which will look after it and provide storage. How the tent is used after 2007 will be up to the partner organisations but the project will need a commitment to exhibit it as In-tent-city group agreed.
Tara Stewart
tara@fusion-arts.org; 01865 245735
CIAO! Festival—Karen Draisey, CIAO! Children's International Arts Organisation
CIAO! has organised annual children's international arts festivals in June at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell for four years to which professional performing companies are invited from around the world. CIAO! has discussed with prospective partners in Oxford, where the organisation is based, the possibility of a pan-Oxfordshire international children's festival to include all or some of the following:
• Performances in theatres in the city and county (Oxford Playhouse, Pegasus, Theatre Chipping Norton, etc.) and unconventional spaces (e.g. outdoor areas)
• Tours of productions to schools
• Tours to Sure Start, nurseries & other community centres
• Rural touring to village halls
• A conference on the arts for young audiences along the lines of those offered at South Hill Park—this year 'Arts Across Frontiers'
• Outreach work to involve children and youth groups, including those who are traditionally hard to reach.
CIAO! is keen to work in partnership with others and would need help in fundraising for this project to be viable.
Karen Draisey
kdraisey@yahoo.com; 01865 790933
Special Arts Weekend—Andrew Nairne, Modern Art Oxford
Two things:
A special summer cultural weekend—with arts/cultural buildings doing special things and activity spilling into the streets/squares/quads. When? May weekend and/or the second to last weekend in August.
A summer arts night in the centre of Oxford, with a trail for people to follow between galleries, museums, events—again with special late openings. When? Probably June.
Andrew Nairne
andrew.nairne@modernartoxford.org.uk; 01865 813816
A new music event for Oxford 2007—Dai Griffiths, Oxford Brookes University
The spring (or autumn) of 2007 will represent the third new music event of its kind, which brought together in 2006 a partnership between Oxford Brookes Music Department, Oxford University Music Faculty, Oxford Contemporary Music and Oxford Improvisers. The theme of the collaboration has been dialogue and network across different approaches to music production: score-based, improvisation, and an approach which extends instrumental and computer-based technique. The University departments will be able to bid for research funding tied to the project this summer, though results of that won't be known till Christmas 2006.
So far, so good. One way of making more inclusive an event, already bringing together diverse communities, is to include as part of next year's event a film music element that could be pitched at schools, youth groups and colleges as well as to composers in the community.
Any music groups interested in developing this theme, do contact us. Our hope is that Oxford's year of culture will be enhanced by some genuinely new musical compositions involving local people, young and old.
Dai Griffiths
dmgriffiths@brookes.ac.uk; 01865 484986
EiE Showcase of Environmental Achievements—Patsy Wood, Oxford Brookes University
EiE (Environmental Information Exchange) is a non-profit group based at Oxford Brookes University. Our key role is to support the environmental efforts of businesses in Oxfordshire. We do this through workshops, a website (www.brookes.ac.uk/eie) and other on-site support.
Oxfordshire has around 15,000 businesses, of which the vast majority have fewer than 50 staff, and most of these fewer than 10. All of these have environmental impacts—they use resources such as water and energy—and they produce waste, and involve car use. Although the impacts of individual businesses might be small, together they are huge.
At EiE our experience is that businesses make changes as a result of positive information. We would like our 2007 event to be a showcase to celebrate the environmental actions that businesses have made—to recognise and encourage them, to illustrate the cost savings as well as the environmental benefits, and to encourage others.
We would like to work with more businesses, and to document their successes through posters and/or videos, which will finally be on display as our 2007 event—the EiE Showcase of Environmental Achievements.
Patsy Wood
pwood@brookes.ac.uk; 01865 484432
Street Olympics—Bernard Henry, University of Oxford
The concept of the Street Olympics is a festival of outdoor sporting events held in local streets. Participants from all sections of the community will be encouraged to take part in activities ranging from sprint competitions involving different age groups to team events such as 'tug-of-war'. The blue ribbon event will be a one-mile street race. This distance has major local significance as Oxford was the venue for the first sub–four minute mile. I believe that this event would draw much interest both locally and nationally. Similar events have been tried successfully in other cities. However with the mile race, Oxford can offer a unique feature which is unmatched elsewhere.
In order to make this project a reality help is required from many sources in terms of organisation and raising funds. It could be that this event could be incorporated into another such as Cowley Road Carnival.
Bernard Henry
bernard.henry@materials.oxford.ac.uk; 01865 273758
Enterprising Oxfordshire
Although sometimes not seen as a part of culture, the long and successful history of entrepreneurial and innovative business people in Oxfordshire should find its place in celebrating 1000 years of Oxfordshire. To do this "Enterprising Oxfordshire" is promoting two major initiatives designed to both celebrate the past and promote the entrepreneurs of the future who will help to assure the continued prosperity of people in Oxfordshire:
1. Entrepreneurs: a competition to select the most successful entrepreneurs (living and dead) to have worked in Oxfordshire. A grand occasion could be held to honour these individuals. With the right competitive rules and media partners (and prizes/awards) such a competition should arouse considerable public interest. At the same time a mini 'Dragons Den' programme should be organised for young entrepreneurs in Oxfordshire.
2. Business weeks/Open days: Using the parallel of Artweeks, which has been organised in Oxfordshire for last twenty-five years, a series of open days will be organised at private sector companies throughout the County. These might take a number of different forms:
• Schools' days: an enhancement of the existing school visits to industry
• Structured Business to Business visits—partly designed for visitors from overseas
• 'Open Days' designed to attract a wider public; to make the whole effort a 'Special Event' it would be desirable to give these open days something of a 'jamboree' atmosphere with local food, music, children's entertainment, competitions and exhibitions as well as an opportunity to look round an industrial plant, a business park or other workplace.
Robert Hutchison
robert.hutchison@oxfordinspires.org; 01865 816391
Cowley Road Carnival—East Oxford Action
"The Cowley Road Carnival celebrates the diversity of the East Oxford community, promoting a positive legacy of inclusion within the wider community throughout the rest of the year."
Cowley Road Carnival is the culmination of a year of planning, visioning and commitment from a wide range of different community and artistic groups. Brimming over with activity, 2005's Cowley Road Carnival featured 18 different sites along the Cowley Road, 25,000 people attended, 600 took part in the street procession and 1350 took on an identifiable role in the day at some point.
We would like to see Cowley Road Carnival as an integral part of the Oxfordshire 2007 celebrations, building on and involving all areas of the diverse cultures that form the vibrant East Oxford community and beyond.
East Oxford Action
01865 203367; www.eastoxford.com
Oxfordshire Youth Games—Chris Freeman, Oxfordshire Sports Partnership
With the London Olympics only a few years away Oxfordshire gets its taste of a mass multi sport event with the Oxfordshire Youth Games in 2007.
The Games will be held in the summer of 2007 and involve teams of young people representing the five Districts of Oxfordshire in sports such as rugby, girls football, netball, badminton, basketball, hockey, cricket and disability sports such as new age curling and boccia.
The Games, as well as a celebration, involves the selection and coaching for the teams leading up to the day, development of the coaches involved in the lead up to the day, recruitment and training of young volunteers for the day and involvement of local sport clubs to enable young people to join local clubs after the Games.
The Games are organised by the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership which includes as its members Local Authorities, School Sport Partnerships and National Governing Bodies of Sport.
Chris Freeman
01295 221718; 01865 467239
Summer Saturdays—Simon Chatterton
We want to bring the city and town centres in Oxfordshire to life with people and performers—rather than the usual cars and buses. We want to create the feel of a vibrant European culture where creative life can be found spilling out from pavements and squares. Summer Saturdays will be:
• A transformation of public spaces in Oxfordshire into places for public to gather, watch and take part
• A programme of high quality international street performance and music
• An opportunity for audiences to discover the unusual, the spectacular and the beautiful
Ideally we'd like to stage one event in Oxford itself and two satellite events—possibly in Banbury and Abingdon; provisional dates are planned to be in May 2007.
Simon Chatterton
simon@simonchatterton.co.uk; 01865 767830
A Music Festival at Campsfield Removal Centre—Isabel Knowland & Arne Richards, Oxford Concert Party
Music is a universal language and knows no barriers. Fifteen years of experience performing and running workshops in prisons throughout the country has taught us that in a situation where people are isolated, lonely and afraid music can act as a powerful healing and therapeutic medium.
While Oxford celebrates its 1000 years we believe it is important not to forget those who cannot share in these celebrations.
Our aim is to create a three-day Festival of Music for detainees at Campsfield. We will bring our own varied repertoire of Baroque, Tango, music from Eastern Europe, Russia, Finland, Ireland, Japan and the Middle East. We will try to engage people with simple singing, dance and playing percussion instruments and we will encourage the detainees to share the music and dance of their countries.
We would like to hear from musicians who are interested in joining us in this project or from anyone who can help us to fund it.
Arne Richards
arne@oxfordconcertparty.org; www.oxfordconcertparty.org
Contemporary Music Projects—Jo Ross, Oxford Contemporary Music
The Shout
We would like to bring together Oxfordshire's huge diversity of choirs and choral groups into one big concert produced and directed by The Shout, an exceptional choir led by composer Orlando Gough. The project aims to bring together choirs from across Oxford's many communities into what The Times said about the Shout themselves: "A glorious celebration of the human voice in all its diversity". (See www.theshout.org.)
Thin Air
A partnership between OCM and the Oxford Playhouse—Spring 2007
Thin Air is a sound installation created by Helen Ottaway of Art Music, working together with a huge variety of people in and around a local area. We would like to produce the event at Dorchester Abbey. Helen composes music fragments from conversations with people living and working locally, capturing memories, ideas and sounds of the local environment. These are then scattered around the space via a network of speakers triggered by people's movement. (See www.artmusic.org.uk.)
Jo Ross
jo@ocmevents.org; 01865 488369
Go with the Flow
The prime objective of Go with the Flow is to ‘encourage more enjoyment of the rivers and waterways of Oxfordshire’. Alex Martin of Folly Bridge Projects is currently drawing up a plan for this Special Event.
Alex Martin
martin@italy-update.demon.co.uk; 01865 721016
Festival of Choral & Inspirational Music—Peter Forsaith, Wesley Centre, Oxford
Charles Wesley, student at Christ Church, born in 1707, became a major literary and cultural figure of the 18th century. Author of some 9,000 poems and hymns he was at the heart of a musical and cultural circle and knew Handel and Mendelssohn. His two sons were leading musicians in their own right and his grandson, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, was one of the leading organists of the 19th century. Two major events are planned for Oxford in 2007:
1. To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of this gifted character, the Wesley Centre, Oxford Brookes University, in conjunction with Music and Travel Tour Consultants, is planning the Oxford Festival of Choral and Inspirational Music, 28 June–2 July 2007. This event aims to attract up to 300 choir members and associates from Britain and around the world for a celebratory weekend of seminars, performance and fun!
2. The Methodist Church of Great Britain possesses—surprisingly to some!—an outstanding Collection of Modern Art including works by Graham Sutherland, Eric Gill, Elisabeth Frink, William Roberts and Patrick Heron. This is a travelling collection with a busy schedule. It is planned to exhibit it in Oxford city centre churches in summer 2007, thereby emphasising the spiritual side of culture.
Peter Forsaith, The Wesley Centre, Oxford Brookes University
pforsaith@brookes.ac.uk; 01865 488319
Opening Doors—Debbie Dance, Oxford Preservation Trust
Opening buildings of interest not usually open to the public the project will seek to encourage a broad interest in the heritage of the city—town and gown. There will be a specific emphasis on getting young people to engage with their city's built heritage, giving them a sense of their own history and place.
A series of 4–5 special events involving young people, held in unusual venues, is scheduled for a week in June 2007, culminating in a weekend of opening doors to include properties opening, walks and talks within and about the City and children's trails and activities.
Oxford Preservation Trust is organising this in partnership with Oxford University and a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been submitted.
Debbie Dance
d.dance@oxfordpreservation.org.uk; 01865 242918
Diamond Light Source launch—Catherine Gater, Diamond Light Project
Diamond Light Source is a prestigious new synchrotron research facility, currently being built in South Oxfordshire on the Chilton/Harwell science campus. This new science facility can be described as a series of 'supermicroscopes' housed in a striking doughnut-shaped building covering an area the size of five football pitches. Diamond will ultimately host more than 30 cutting-edge research laboratories, supporting the life, physical and environmental sciences. Many of the everyday commodities we take for granted, from chocolate to cosmetics, from revolutionary drugs to surgical tools, have been developed using synchrotron light.
Diamond will have a major impact on Oxfordshire's scientific, business and cultural life once it opens in 2007. Attracting staff and researchers from around the globe, Diamond will help to bring a truly international flavour to one of the county's major centres for scientific research, as well as providing a boost to local businesses. Plans for a series of exciting inaugural events are in the pipeline, including a large scale open day in collaboration with OOMF, which will feature a spectacular light show.
Diamond is also working with the Women's Institute and The Oxford Trust to produce a stunning art piece inspired by the life sciences research that the new facility will support. This fabric-based work will be toured round the county during the second half of 2007, and we are keen to hear from potential hosts for what will be a fascinating and eye-catching piece.
Catherine Gater
catherine.gater@diamond.ac.uk; 01235 778420
Oxfordshire Play Day—Martin French, Oxfordshire Play Association
This is a proposal to organise a fun play day that celebrates children and young people's rights to play and that raises awareness of the meaning and importance of play in their lives—focussed on freely chosen high-quality inclusive play opportunities.
There are 82,000 children aged 5 to 15 years in Oxfordshire; many of them live in marginalised communities and in rural and isolated pockets of deprivation. The increasing focus on childcare provision, being developed through wrap-around care, extended schools and children's centres—coupled with concerns about allowing children 'to go out to play' means that free play opportunities for children are being eroded.
Play is about opportunities for children to develop socially, physically, intellectually, creatively, emotionally and spiritually. "Focus on Fun" could bring together communities, faith groups, parishes, district councils, play settings—and most importantly the children and young people themselves—to experience a massive children's play event offering the broadest possible range of opportunities—play in the broadest sense—music, dance, singing, creative opportunities, art of all kinds, sport, horticulture, food, textiles, the environment—you name it, it can be turned into a play opportunity. So there you have it: "Focus on Fun", a play celebration event for all across Oxfordshire.
Martin French
martin@oxonplay.org.uk; 01865 880900
Art on the Car-Park—James Grote, Ark-T Centre
Using the Castle Car-Park at Templars Square in Cowley as a massive projection screen and exhibition space to project images onto the city-facing side of the car-park. Images could feature work by local artists, carry the 2007 logo and promote its events, link with other exhibitions, e.g. Ashmolean: Faces (of Cowley), etc.
Why do it?
• 2007 is the 10th Anniversary of the Ark-T Centre, the car-park's closest neighbour. The Centre carries the slogan 'creating space for the arts'; this project would celebrate that by creating the biggest single art-space in the city.
• The car-park has a tragic past where people have committed suicide or, in the attempt, been critically injured; it has been subject to vandalism and is loathed by many who live round it. This project would help to redeem it a little.
There are two other ideas:
• Hang a large banner on the side or many small ones with individual images or combining to create a large corporate image.
• Use the top storey of the car-park for a sculpture exhibition, an exhibition of cars or an event (music, dance). The top storey provides one of the best views across Oxford.
James Grote
james@ark-t.org; 01865 773499
Festival of Cycling—Dominic Scholfield
Oxford is, and has long been, a cycling city, and it seems only right to celebrate this fact. The bicycle combines engineering simplicity (several times voted the greatest-ever invention), aesthetic grace and individual freedom for all ages and income groups. Promoting the bicycle means promoting the health of both individuals and communities.
It is suggested that the festival takes place on the first Saturday of Bike Week (probably Saturday 16 June) to launch and highlight a whole week of further bike rides and other events. Oxford already has a 'Bike Week Coalition' of local stakeholders and businesses. The cycling festival project will work with this coalition to organise and promote the event. The suggested venue is South Parks, as many charity bike rides already start/finish at this venue.
The event will include:
• Pedal-powered music
• The pedal-powered 'Groovy Movie' tent showing cycle-themed films
• A BMX demonstration area (as at Cowley Road Carnival)
• Demonstration area for crazy bikes, recumbents, tandems, etc.
• A mountain-bike course, possibly a race around the outside of the park?
• Judging and display of the entrants to an engineering competition to create pedal-powered appliances
• Display and sale of bicycle art—photography, sculpture, etc.—either of or using bicycles
• Food stalls highlighting food/restaurants within cycling distance of the park
• Information and sales stalls covering all aspects of cycling, for fun, sport and commuting.
If possible, a highlight of the day could be a criterium race around the city (a criterium is a road race run as a number of laps around a short course).
Dominic Scholfield
dom@oxfordbikeweek.org.uk; 07946 474877
Oxford Hours—Ted Dewan
Oxford Hours is a proposed large-scale art installation and urban ritual for Oxford. It is a fire-lit passagio and lantern ceremony, punctuated with a series of kiosks that can feature a variety of small-scale theatricals, local foods, presentations, and activities. Think of Oxford Hours as the omelette that can bind together a variety of cultural ingredients.
Ted Dewan
headwitch@roadwitch.org.uk; 01865 553517
