Award Nominated Young DaDaFest Expands into Trio of Events to Celebrate the Talent of Young Disabled People
Following on from the success of last year’s sold-out event which saw 105 young people perform to an audience of 400 at the Liverpool Everyman, Young DaDaFest has now expanded to feature a music-focused event in the Music Room at the Liverpool Philharmonic, a performance event at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and a fringe event “SandFest” at Liverpool John Moore’s University.
Young DaDaFest develops young disabled artists by providing a platform to perform in front of large audiences. The performers are aged between 12 to 25. The popularity of Young DaDaFest 2015 and an increase in applications have led to the expansion of the annual event.
The theme for Young DaDaFest this year is “Scratch”, which leads into the overall theme of this year’s DaDaFest International festival – “Skin Deep” taking place from 18 November to 3 December. Performers will create original work responding to this.
Young people have been provided with the opportunity to develop their skills in a series of Workshops held at the Everyman. The workshops are open to young people with a passion for performing who will devise new pieces of work for Young DaDaFest.
Young artists have benefited from mentoring through a unique training programme with DaDaFest, this has included a performer developing her poetry and recital skills with a local artist.
Young DaDaFest 2016 will feature a wide variety of performances, including a group from London based organisation, Heart n’ Soul Art – Electric Fire, who will perform their own digital music. There will be the first public performance by Young DaDa Ensemble, our unique programme to develop young musicians as well as a return performance by the Arden Rockers, who last performed at Young DaDaFest 2015. Our performance event will feature eight acts including a debut performance by Wolfprint and we are delighted to include Acting Up as part of the line-up.
“SandFest” originated from pupils at Sandfield Park School who wished to celebrate their talents with a fringe event as part of Young DaDaFest. The invite only event will celebrate art within the school, with a variety of performances as well as artworks that will be available to purchase.
Ruth Gould, Artistic Director at DaDaFest said: “We are proud of the young people; their leadership, creativity and joy are so obvious at every stage of the planning. We know this year’s event will raise the bar yet again!”
Dominic Beaumont, Press & PR Manager at Liverpool Everyman said: “We’re delighted that Young DaDaFest will once again be at the Everyman. It is a joyous event that gives so many young people the chance to showcase their talent and highlights the power of performance to break down boundaries.”
Sophie Johnson, Marketing Officer at Liverpool Philharmonic said:“We are thrilled to be hosting a Young DaDaFest event for the first time at the Music Room, Liverpool’s newest music venue. It’s always a pleasure to be involved with DaDaFest and we’re excited to see what their young performers will create for the event.”
Young DaDaFest Music
Date: Wednesday 6 July 2016 (6:30pm to 8:30pm)
Venue: Music Room, Liverpool Philharmonic
Tickets: £4/£3
Running Time: 2 hours (including interval)
Access: British Sign Language Interpretation, Relaxed Performance
Young DaDaFest Perform
Date: Thursday 14 July 2016 (6pm to 8:30pm)
Venue: Liverpool Everyman Theatre
Running Time: 2 hours & 30 minutes (including interval)
Access: British Sign Language Interpretation, Relaxed Performance & Audio Description
SandFest
Date: Thursday 7 July 2016 (6pm to 8pm)
Venue: John Lennon Art & Design Building, LJMU
Tickets: Invitation only
Running Time: 2 hours