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Events

Thousands join Spark Festival

More than 10,500 people took part in The Spark Festival during February 2022, attending performances, workshops, and other exciting events.

Leicester schools, cultural venues and libraries staged some of the world’s best artists including home grown talent Aakash Odedra Company and Mellow Baku. Stories of overcoming the odds, kindness, finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and having fun shone through at every opportunity.

Over the weekend free festival activities took place including paper play at libraries and a taster of what happens when children take charge at Curve and Leicester Museum & Art Gallery.

190 events were delivered over seven days to around 10,500 audiences and participants. Taking place across fifteen venues there were ten productions; Thirteen companies took part and the festival supported sixty-nine artists; The festival involved over 5,300 school children in nineteen schools.

The Spark Festival in 2021 moved completely online due to COVID-19. So to ensure 2022 was a safe as possible the Spark team worked with partners, schools and venues including implementing lower capacities and encouraging testing, vaccinations and face coverings/ventilation.

We are so proud to have worked with our partners to welcome audiences back to The Spark Festival in person. As we all know, Leicester experienced one of the toughest lockdowns in the country and to see local children smiling, immersed and clapping together with their friends and family was truly unforgettable.

Daryl BeetonFestival Co-director