In response to the latest government advice encouraging individuals to stay at home and practise social distancing, NSCD students have chosen to take their annual arts festival online, for everyone to enjoy from the comfort of their homes.
FLOCK FEST is an arts and performance festival curated and produced by second-year BA (Hons) students. Each year and under normal circumstances, the festival takes place throughout the school’s theatre, studios and other public spaces. It’s an opportunity to platform work by both established and emerging artists with a variety of surprising installations, unusual performances and immersive experiences.
This year the festival was due to take place Friday 27 - Saturday 28 March 2020. However due to the present situation with COVID-19, and NSCD closing its building to protect its community, FLOCK FEST is going online.
Each programmed artist has been asked to supply a 3-5 minute video performance, specifically created for the event. The results will form part of a live broadcast, made available for anyone to watch at www.flockfest.co.uk from their desktop, tablet or phone on Friday 27 of March at 3pm. The broadcast will then be made available online after the event. NSCD is honouring each artist’s original agreed fee.
Speaking of the students’ collective idea to take the festival online, second-year BA students Vár Bech Árting and Ingrid Schade said:
“The advice from the UK government is to avoid gatherings and crowded places to minimise the risk of spreading the virus. We do not want to take any risks regarding people’s health and we want to keep artists, staff and audiences safe. However, we still want to come together, support the great artists that we have programmed, connect with our audiences and find alternative ways to celebrate creativity in this time of uncertainty.
“Most performances, gigs and projects have now been cancelled and will not be able to run for the foreseeable future. For many artists this means that they are now unemployed and have lost their income for the next few months. Instead of cancelling the event, we wanted to find another way to run the festival, allow the artists to share their work and ensure that they will receive their agreed fee, and for audiences to still be able to experience the festival.”
NSCD Principal Janet Smith MBE added:
“I’m proud of our students’ determination to go ahead with the festival and find a way to move it into the virtual realm. FLOCK FEST has at its heart the celebration of creativity with and for a community. So I’m delighted it will help to connect people confined to their homes right now and bring this performance event into domestic settings. I look forward to tuning in and being transported from my laptop by artists including our talented dance students and graduates.”
