Highly Commended for our Family Welcome!

Herefordshire’s Family Festival was a surefire favourite…

It looks like we weren’t the only ones who enjoyed our Family Festival last year. In October we brought you Herefordshire’s Family Festival as part of the 2015 Get Creative Family Arts Festival and our contribution has been highly commended!

The Commendations identify the outstanding events that took place across the country in association with the Family Arts Festival, as voted for by a panel of expert judges from the arts sector.

The Courtyard was 1 out of 800 other organisations participating in the nationwide Festival, which took place between 9 October and 1 November 2015. A staggering 500,000 family members attended one of the 4,000 festival events across the UK.

Our first Family Festival last October – sponsored by Western Power Distribution – welcomed over 600 people to The Courtyard, which was transformed into a magical castle complete with dragon’s lair. The festival theme drew from the local legend of Maud and the Dragon from Mordiford. The mystical day had something for everyone; spellbinding stories, gingerbread houses, mermaid performances and even a dragon procession!

The Family Arts Festival Awards took place at the Albany in London on Wednesday 30 March. The ceremony celebrated the Festival’s most engaging family events as well as recognised outstanding organisers and venues.

Our Associate Director David Durant represented The Courtyard at the ceremony, along with our Marketing Manager Jessica Prosser.

The Get Creative Arts Festival is run by the Family Arts Campaign, which aims to increase the amount and range of high quality arts available to families nationwide.  Phil Cave, Director of Engagement and Audiences at Arts Council England said:

“Encouraging arts organisations to develop their family offer, and to consider the diverse needs of families in Britain today is really important. We are very pleased to continue to support the Family Arts Campaign, it has been a huge success to date and has reached a wide range of people. The Campaign continues to inspire artists, arts organisations and families to engage in a vast range of arts activities across the country. It provides time for families to get together and create shared memories, and to experience the power of engaging with the arts.”

Don’t worry if you missed out on last year’s fun, we are already planning our next Family Festival, and our new theme promises to be even more magical! So put Wednesday 26 October in your diary, and watch this SPACE…

Herefordshire’s Family Festival 2016 is again being supported by The Beaumont Trust