Date
Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 July 2024
Time
Various times
Price
FREE (booking may apply)
Venue
All of the activities from Friday 12-Sunday 14 July take place in the Festival Hub, a beautiful canvas stretch tent
ON THE BEACH!
Adjacent to Revo Kitchen.
Weston-super-Mare,
BS23 1BE
TAKE FIVE – Weston Arts + Health Festival
2024 is the fifth year for Weston Arts + Health Festival, a partnership between University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) and Super Culture that shines a light on the creative provision that exists in Weston year-round to bring people together in positive, shared activity that can support both physical and mental health.
This popular annual festival includes a creative programme for staff and patients, as well as bespoke commissions that say something special about the town or the time. Highlights from the past five years include Luke Jerram’s In Memoriam, SW!M75 co-produced with Diverse City and ‘In Our Hands’ Global Weston exhibition, the latter now situated in the Hospital grounds for all to enjoy.
This year the hub of the festival is a canvas stretch tent on the beach, and – deckchairs at the ready – we are exploring the theme ‘Take Five’, celebrating the value of taking five minutes out of your day to simply pause – over a cuppa, a chat, a walk or a moment of peace and quiet. The festival is brimming with opportunities for people of all ages to engage with the Five Ways to Wellbeing that evidence strongly suggests can improve your mental health.
The Fives Ways To Wellbeing are:
1.Connect with other people
2. Be physically active
3 Learn new skills
4. Give to others
5. Pay attention to the present moment
You might notice that many of the activities in this year’s Festival have a running tea-theme! We have taken our cue from a poem written by Beth Calverley, UHBW’s Poet in Residence, in response to the 2023 Festival. Beth refers to Weston’s creative community as “the teacup of song in the heart of this town: life pouring into the hospital, healing pouring out”. This mutually supportive relationship between the town and the hospital sits at the heart of the Festival programme. Whether you’re online, at work, at play, on the ward or on the beach, there is plenty across the weekend to top you up – from bird-spotting in the dunes, gasping at Circus, revelling at Posh Club, making mosaics, prescribing to Poetry Pharmacy, singing for wellbeing, bidding at the Great Tea Cosy Auction, Peace-feasting … and much more besides.
Come and Take Five with us!
Click here for useful Information about the Festival (accessibility, walks, travel, photography)
Building up to the Festival!
FESTIVAL TASTERS – COMMUNITY CREAM TEAS
Presented with Alliance Homes
Free, pre-booking required
Various venues in South Weston
In the build-up to the Arts + Health Festival we will be spreading the love, and the strawberry jam, at several community cream teas.
Click here for more information and to book
All events are FREE and donations for future Arts + Health Festivals are Welcome. Donate here
THURSDAY 11 JULY
7.30pm-9pm
Speakeasy Online Poetry Event
Featuring Deb Alma from The Poetry Pharmacy, alongside open mic poets
Presented by The Write Box
Free, pre-booking required
Poet and founder of the wonderful Poetry Pharmacy bookshop, Deb Alma leads a reading and discussion as guest poet at Weston’s latest Speakeasy Poetry Night (#25), alongside open mic contributions from local voices including NHS staff members.
Click here for more information and to book
FRIDAY 12 JULY
7.30pm-10.00pm
FRIDAY NIGHT SOUNDS ON THE SAND
Poetry and music under the stars with UHBW NHS Foundation Trust’s artists in residence
Free, pre-booking required
A brilliant mixed bill kicks off the festival’s live action in unforgettable style, with poetry and music from some of the hospital’s artists in residence, moonlighting on the beach.
Click here for more information and to book
ACROSS THE WEEKEND!
Fill your cup with a range of creative activities running in the Festival Hub across both days (10am-2pm Saturday, 11am-3pm Sunday), presented by some of the fantastic groups who have regular creative participation offers in the town.
The mix includes:
🫖 Vintage tea cup planting with Friends of Grove Park
🫖 Me Old China community mosaic with Create Together
🫖 Slow stitching & weaving with UHBW Visual Artist in Residence Jo Sinclair
🫖 Doodling with Talk Club
🫖 Wildflower seed balls with Grow Feral
🫖 Open Chat with Open Door Drama Group
🫖 Learn to crochet with Rebels Picnic
🫖 Discover nature with Mendip National Landscape
🫖 Play with Front Room Theatre
🫖 Gather round the festival tea urn, hosted by Rhona Iris, where you are warmly welcomed to share free tea and conversation
Click for useful Information about the Festival (accessibility, walks, travel, photography)
SATURDAY 13 JULY
7am-9:30am, with optional tea in the tent afterwards
Breakfast Bird Walk with Chris Sperring
Free, pre-booking required
Chris Sperring MBE has presented a wide variety of Wildlife programmes on BBC Radio 4 and TV, including 4 years of live webcams on Autumnwatch. His soaring knowledge of birds will lend a whole new perspective to your understanding and enjoyment of Weston’s coastline.
Join Chris for a friendly walk, talk and watch of birds moving across the estuary on a Summer morning.
Click here for more information and to book
All events are FREE and donations for future Arts + Health Festivals are Welcome. Donate here
10.30am-11.15am
Little People, Big Feelings
Suitable for 8 years and under – parents & carers are kindly required to stay on the premises (and drink tea!)
Free, drop-in
Join George from Super Culture to explore big feelings and big laughs through storytelling. Sharing a collection of titles designed to playfully support children’s emotional good health and open up conversations about what makes us tick.
11am-1pm
Nature Connection Walk
Free, pre-booking required
Join Mhairi from the Mendip Hills National Landscapes team for a 2 hour nature connection walk towards Uphill and back.
Click here for more information and to book
12pm-12.30pm
Why We Should All Sing More!
with Samir Savant, Director of St George’s Hall (Bristol)
Free, drop-in
Samir Savant is passionate about all things singing, having sung since he was 10 years old. His recent instagram post discussing the relationship between mental health and singing went viral with well over 3 million views worldwide. ‘When we sing’, explains Samir, ‘our brains release endorphins, dopamine and oxytocin, often referred to as the happy hormones’. Having delivered a TEDx talk on the subject, Samir is now working with the University of West of England and a choir of some five hundred voices on ‘Sing for Happiness’, a research project to explore the link between singing and wellbeing. Join Samir for an informal lunchtime talk (and maybe a bit of singing) in the Festival Hub.
2pm-3pm
Mindfulness Walk for Wellbeing
Free, pre-booking required
All ages welcome, under 18s must be accompanied
This walk is all about drawing breath rather than getting out of breath! A gentle amble along the sands absorbing the pleasure of walking with others, and enjoying nature
Click here for more information and to book
3pm-5pm
The Posh Club On The Beach
Free, ticketed event for all aged 60 years and above
Dress code Posh
The Posh Club is a glamorous performance and social club for older people that has become a national phenomenon. The Posh Club’s irresistible events are styled as tongue-in-cheek ‘posh’ 1940’s afternoon tea with live cabaret turns, volunteer waiters in black tie, and vintage crockery. Social connectivity and inter-generational volunteering are encouraged in the most splendid of fashions, with warmth, frills, and frolics at the heart of the experience.
Click here for more information and to book
Click for useful Information about the Festival (accessibility, walks, travel, photography)
SUNDAY 14 JULY
9.30am-11.00am
Acrobatics and Circus workshop with Collective ConTakt
No experience required.
Suitable for all ages from 10 years+ (parents and carers required to stay on site for under 18s please)
Free, pre-booking required.
Join this acclaimed European circus collective in a playful workshop that is designed to have you laughing, moving and jumping with joy. Turn yourself upside down and enjoy a fresh perspective!
Click here for more information and to book
10am-11.30am
Health Walk
Free, pre-booking required
Suitable for all ages (under 18s to be accompanied) and fitness levels
Join Kira and Claire who are local Health Walk volunteers on one of their favourite seafront Health Walk routes. A gently paced and friendly walk along an accessible route.
Click here for more information and to book
11.00am-12.30pm
Nature Based Wellbeing for Older Adults
Free, pre-booking required to guarantee a place
Join Julie from Alive Activities for a session of therapeutic nature-based crafting, sensory activity and garden reminiscence for older adults, people living with dementia and those who care for them. Find out more about Alive’s therapeutic horticulture offer in North Somerset and Bristol and how you or someone you care for could benefit from getting involved with nature.
Click here for more information and to book
All events are FREE and donations for future Arts + Health Festivals are Welcome. Donate here
12.00pm-2.00pm
Singing Walk – Racheal Dadd and Julia Turner
Free, pre-booking required
All ages welcome, under 18s must be accompanied
No previous singing experience required
Rachael and Julia run singing walks in Bristol to mark solstices, equinoxes and the mid points between them. On this walk, learn simple songs to foster connection with the earth and yourself. Treat yourself to some time to connect with the season, reflect on how you are and set intentions for the coming weeks.
Click here for more information and to book
12.30pm-2.00pm
‘Hidden Histories’ Tea Party with Tom Marshman
Free, pre-booking required
Tom Marshman is a nationally acclaimed performance artist whose work often maps outsider stories, particularly those from LGBTQI+ perspectives. This Summer Tom is drinking a lot of tea with different communities, exploring the impact of hidden histories. Join him on the beach as his quest reaches Weston, the town where he spent his college years and whose golden sands hold a fair few formative memories.
Click here for more information and to book
Click for useful Information about the Festival (accessibility, walks, travel, photography)
2-2.30pm
The Original Spinners
Free, drop-in
The Original Spinners
Dance to lift people’s spirits and put smiles on faces.
The Original Spinners use music, movement, creativity and play to enable joyful experiences for those in hospital settings and beyond, including delivery of the hugely successful Dance for Dementia project across North Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and UHBW. Join them on the promenade and become part of the performance.
3pm-4pm
FOLEY
Circus Performance by Collective ConTakt
Suitable for all ages
Free, no booking required
A high octane acrobatics show with live music, exploring how vulnerability can be overcome through playfully connecting with others to build trust and new possibilities. Tall towers and high throws will take your breath away.
Collective ConTakt is a pan-European circus collective with roots in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France and the UK. The group specialises in blending high level acrobatics and live music.
“It was amazing, it was the best show I have ever seen… awesome.” Audience feedback.
All events are FREE and donations for future Arts + Health Festivals are Welcome. Donate here
4pm-6.30pm
Peace Feast – all welcome!
Free, no booking required / Food available until it runs out!
A collaboration with Refugees Welcome North Somerset, Loves Cafe and Global Kitchen refugee cooking collective to create a Peace Feast for the whole community as a Festival Finale. Come together at the Festival Hub to share new flavours, meet new friends and celebrate Weston’s community.
This feast is one of a number of community gatherings that have been enabled by North Somerset Community Food Grant.
4.30-5.30pm
The Great Tea Cosy Auction!
Supported by Alliance Homes, crochet-tastic members of Weston’s community have been busy taking five minutes out of their day to make an amazing array of tea cosies that warm up further opportunities for friendly cuppas in the future. You can get involved by making a tea cosy in the run-up to the festival, or place your bid at the Great Tea Cosy Auction!
Monies raised will be split between Weston Hospicecare and Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity.
5.30pm
Peace Feast Sing-a-long
All welcome!
Free, no booking required
Get the endorphins rushing as part of this relaxed group sing-a-long led by Ellie Rusbridge, leader of the UHBW Staff Choir. Join in to create delicious sounds as the final taste of the Festival.
Click here for useful Information about the Festival (accessibility, walks, travel, photography)
See the highlights of last year’s Weston Arts + Health Festival in this short film by Nick Sutton:
Lead image outside Weston General Hospital at Weston Arts + Health Festival 2023, credit Paul Blakemore
